The Mycenaean

Don’t lose sight of hope: while January seemed very doom-and-gloom, the rest of the year is bursting with potential. Who knows what next month’s headlines have to offer? (Photo courtesy of CNN, Insider, The Guardian on Twitter, and News.com.au)

Every year December 31 rolls around, and people beg and plead for a better year than the last. Many people left 2019 frustrated, so they looked towards the future with 20/20 vision. However, this first month has proven to be the opposite of improvement. Let’s recap the rocky first month of 2020:

WWIII

Not even a complete week into 2020 there was panic across the U.S.A with hysteria over World War Three. The President ordered an airstrike that killed a high-ranking Iranian general, which started a back-and-forth combination of insults and airstrikes between the two countries. Of course, there was a huge mass of memes and legitimate concerns of a new draft, but luckily the situation settled. It couldn’t get any worse right? Actually, one continent across the globe would beg to differ.

Australia in Ashes

Wildfires are common all over the world: With the current state of the Earth’s climate, they’ve only gotten worse and worse over the years. That was the case for Australia, which spent almost all of January battling raging fires across the continent. Going into February, there are still fires near the capital as evacuees are returning to their homes. Twitter erupted with cries for support and horrifying videos of koalas in the wreckage; it seemed that for a good couple of weeks the world banded together to fight Australia’s worst nightmare. The unity was short-lived though: January decided to end with a twist that nobody expected. 

The loss of Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant was an iconic basketball player for the Lakers. On January 26, Bryant, his daughter, and seven other people died in a helicopter crash in California. Across the nation, there was a moment of disbelief — many people couldn’t even fathom the legend dying so soon. Sadly, it was true, and it sent shockwaves of support and loving messages for the Bryant family and all those Kobe inspired in his lifetime. Cries of support for the other families are also spreading across the internet, and several basketball games honored the fallen player. 

As of now, 2020 didn’t start off with the best footing. Nothing’s worse than a cynic though, and with 11 more months there’s plenty of room for things to turn around. Plus, as highschoolers, we are halfway through the school year — you seniors are in the home stretch, us juniors are so close to the finish line, and you sophomores and freshman are surviving. 

Great job Leesville, let’s keep on moving all the way until the end of the year.