As 2022 comes to an end, there’s a lot to reflect on. January doesn’t feel like that long ago, despite the number of unexpected events that happened this year. I never expected to see a major war, but I also didn’t expect a pandemic two years ago so I can’t be too shocked.
Global News:
The year started relatively uneventful on the world stage. Beijing hosted the Winter Olympics in February, shrouded in controversy. Omicron was the COVID variant of the spring, and 5G was introduced. People were scared of a potential monkeypox epidemic, but fortunately, that never panned out.
On February 24, Vladimir Putin announced the start of his “special military operation” in Ukraine. People across the globe hoped this would just blow over, but it didn’t. Ten months later, Ukraine and Russia are still at war. Ukraine has lost tens of thousands of civilians, and many more have fled the country.
Despite Russia’s military might, Ukraine has fought nobly, backed by the west. Russia started a partial mobilization of their reserve forces in September, followed by many Russians waiting for days trying to flee the country.
England certainly had an interesting year, set off by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s resignation on July 7 due to various COVID-19 and sexual harassment scandals.
Liz Truss was appointed as the new prime minister on September 5 and subsequently tanked the British economy. She only made it to day 44, resigning on October 20. It doesn’t help that Queen Elizabeth II passed away on September 8 at Balmoral Castle; her term was overshadowed by this loss.
Queen Elizabeth II was the only Queen of England that most people knew in their lives, reigning since 1952. She was succeeded by her son, King Charles III, the oldest person to accede to the British throne at 73.
The global population hit 8 billion, which is definitely a big milestone. That’s a lot of people.
The World Cup is still going on, but it has been a fun one so far. There have been a couple of interesting upsets, like Mexico’s elimination in the first round and Brazil’s elimination after losing to Croatia. Hosting the World Cup in Qatar has been controversial on its own, due to their human rights violations and the many migrant worker deaths during the construction of the stadiums. The Iranian team didn’t sing their national anthem during their first game, in solidarity with the months-long protests in Iran against the morality police.
US News:
Joe Biden has had a tough year. His approval rating has struggled, as has the economy. The US treasury rose interest rates ¼ point for the first time since 2018 in March and hasn’t stopped. Inflation has been the talking point of the 2022 elections, with food and gas prices way up. They have eased off a little bit, but people are still worried.
Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn into office in June, becoming the first Black, female Supreme Court justice. Other political achievements of the year include the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the cancellation of some federal student loans (whether that actually happens or not).
The Democrats were worried about a supposed red wave during the midterm elections, but they gained a seat in Pennsylvania and held off Georgia to gain a 51-49 majority. The US House went to the Republicans, who currently hold a 221-213 majority.
Hurricane Ian hit Florida as a Category 4 storm in September, killing 157 people. We’ve definitely had worse hurricane seasons in recent years, so it could have been more devastating.
Plenty more mass shootings have happened this year, from the Buffalo TOPS supermarket to Uvalde to Club Q. As with every year for the last decade or so, gun violence is arguably the most politically divisive topic in the country.
Very recently, WNBA star Brittney Griner was released from a Russian prison camp after being detained in February for cannabis possession. She became a political pawn for Putin and was sentenced to nine years in prison. She was released after a prisoner swap with the United States; the US sent arms dealer Viktor Bout back to Russia.
At Littleton High School:
During the spring of 2022, LHS students enjoyed prom at the Vehicle Vault and “Into to Woods” as the spring musical. Many long-term teachers retired, such as Mr. Gordon, Mr. Burdick, and Mr. Burton.
So far this fall, business is mostly back to normal at Littleton. The bathrooms seem a little crazier this year, but school spirit is definitely coming back to the school. We had the best football season in over a decade, with senior QB Timmy Higgins leading us to finish 5-5. New teachers dot the science, social studies, and technology departments.
The EPIC campus is under construction across the street and looks pretty cool so far. Unfortunately, the seniors won’t be able to make use of it.
Besides the EPIC campus, there is a lot of construction going on around LHS this fall. Clarkson Street is closed until April, there’s construction at Powers and Broadway, and earlier in the year they were repaving Broadway.
All in all, it was definitely another year. Despite all the bad events that happened, we are still here on Earth, making it through every day. I am looking forward to a more positive year next year. Maybe Russia will find peace with Ukraine, or maybe we will go to the playoffs in football.
