The Pacer would like to wish every student, faculty and staff member a happy holiday season.
This year has been a whirlwind, to say the least. With many celebrity and role model deaths, the 2016 election season and several natural disasters, the one opinion we can all agree on is that we hope this year never happens again.
This holiday season might lead to tension at family gatherings. It might not matter how you are doing in school. For many people. all that matters is who you voted (or did not vote) for. Many people may not even have a home to go to because of disasters happening in their areas, including the recent fires in Chattanooga and Gatlinburg.
However terrible this year has been, we can all find some events that we can be thankful for. First off, the Chicago Cubs won their first world series since 1908. Pandas, tigers and manatees are no longer endangered. The story of Alexander Hamilton has been made into a Tony Award-winning musical. But what about locally?
The solar tree, which feeds energy to Crisp Hall and other areas on campus, was installed this year. UTM received funding for construction on a new STEM building, which will replace some buildings on campus to house engineering and science departments and classes. A new chancellor was selected who is prepared to serve with the vision we all share as well as fresh ideas.
No matter how bad this year may have seemed, we can still appreciate that these experiences have caused us to grow up in many areas of life, whether we wanted to or not.
Remember to stay safe and warm during winter break, and congratulations to those who are graduating seniors. For everyone else, we will see you all next year at UTM.
