From “murder hornets” arriving in the states to forest fires burning across America, 2020 has been nothing short of traumatic.

Our country faced many things like the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, the stock market crashing, and a breakout of protests against racism and police brutality.

Our country mourned over inspiring and iconic figures like Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Chadwick Boseman, Naya Rivera, and the beloved Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Our country experienced a global pandemic that triggered a recession, all while being in isolation. 

Our area is especially hurting since Hurricane Sally made landfall in Pensacola a couple of weeks ago. Hurricane Sally left $29 million in damages and at least four fatalities have been confirmed. 

In a time of isolation, there is nothing we need more than human connection. It’s easy to lose focus on the good things in life while experiencing horrific events that keep on coming.  

In search of some good news my roommate, Daniela and I grabbed her Carpool Karaoke mic and drove around the area. We asked some UWF students if they had any funny or happy stories to share with us. 

Since we were using Daniela’s Carpool Karaoke mic it was easy to get people to talk to us. However, students trying to remember if they had anything good happen to them in the midst of online classes and a pandemic, wasn’t so easy.  

So, here are some of the stories I heard. I hope they make you smile and leave you feeling a little bit better about life. 

“Well, the other day at work I was complaining to a customer about college being expensive and not getting enough hours, therefore not getting enough money. When he was leaving, he tipped me 50 dollars so that was pretty cool,” Ellie Johnson, a junior at UWF said. 

With each person telling their story, it reminded the others of another good time that they had, and they would share it with everyone. It was really awesome sitting back and watch everything unfold.

Brittney Anderson told a heartwarming story about her cousin’s wedding. “My older cousin got married a few months ago and because of COVID my other aunt, uncle, and cousin couldn’t go. He’s five and wanted to go to the wedding really bad so they came up here and had a pretend wedding,” Anderson said. 

Hailey Myddleton is a junior at UWF and was excited to share that his best friend got married recently and they’re expecting a little girl. 

I stopped a girl taking her dog out because I can’t pass up on the opportunity of petting a dog. Sarah Lower is the dog owner and she’s a junior at UWF. “I just adopted my dog, Kai and I got him when his time was up in the shelter,” Lower said. Just goes to show that people are still doing amazing things in 2020.

There were also a couple of homecoming stories that people shared that will certainly make anyone smile. 

“Because of COVID-19, my brother got the chance to come home for the first time in a year. We were able to go on the boat and have a great time together,” Jacob Keller said. 

Kelsey Hope is a senior at UWF and talked about how she went to Colorado to visit her best friend, Samantha Helms. “I met Sam during my freshman year of college and we quickly became best friends. She recently graduated from the nursing school at UWF and moved to Colorado at the beginning of the summer. It was an amazing time visiting Colorado for the first time and getting to see Sam for the first time in forever,” Hope said. 

On our way home Daniela and I couldn’t stop smiling. It was so refreshing to hear something good happening in someone’s life. Daniela looked at me after and said, “Thank you so much for letting me come. It made me so happy hearing all of those stories.”  

With everything going on in our world today it’s important to take a deep breath and keep reminding yourself that it will get better. 

I challenge you this week to try and make someone else’s day. It can be easy as smiling at someone as you pass by or buying the next person’s meal in the drive-thru.  

Together let’s make 2020 better and our world kinder.