9 things I learned in 2016 // year recap

9 things I learned in 2016 // Year recap

"I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing the world.

You´re doing things you´ve never done before, and more importantly, you´re Doing Something.

So that´s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes.

Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody´s ever made before. Don´t freeze, don´t stop, don´t worry that it isn´t good enough, or it isn´t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work, or family, or life. Whatever it is you´re scare of doing, do it. Make you´re mistakes, next year and forever"

- Neil Gaiman

Another year has come to an end and it seems to me like it was yesterday that I was celebrating my last New Year´s Eve in Courmayeur with my friends.

This year it´s gonna be different: it´s the first New Year´s Eve that I´m not spending in Courmayeur, in the mountains. This year, I´m gonna spend the last night of 2016 in Munich, where I´m currently doing my Exchange semester.

This 2016 definitely gave us a lot to remember: starting from the passing away of many iconic public figures such as Franca Sozzani, David Bowie, George Michael, to the election of Donald Trump, Leonardo di Caprio finally winning an Oscar, the Brexit, terroristic attacks that shocked the entire world, the tragedy in Orlando, the one in Munich, disorders in Turkey, the Olympic Games in Brazil, Brad´s and Angelina´s divorce..

This year has been significant. Also on a personal level, I learned a lot from this 2016. I made my mistakes and learned from them, I challenged myself in doing things I´ve never done before and learned a lot.

So, to conclude this year, I wanted to make a list of the things I learned in this 2016, hoping to be a better version of myself in this new year to come!

Things I learned in this 2016

1. Going abroad for a semester was the best decision of my life

I´ve always wanted to go abroad for my studies. Unfortunately for a lot of reasons, this could´t be possible, but as soon as I had the chance to apply for a semester abroad, I did it. And I will never regret it. This was one of the best decisions I could ever make and I´m super happy of this opportunity. I´m currently spending my semester in Munich, in Germany. I met so many amazing people and I grew up a lot in these months. This semester made me a happier person and I learned a lot from this experience.

2. Never forget a passport at home

This is a very important thing, mostly if you're ID card is broken and you need to do a new one and you have a flight booked some days after.. Yes, I will never forger it again (I hope...)

3. I will never be relaxed before an exam

No matter how hard I try to chill out before an exam and no matter how many exams I already did... I will always be super stressed!

4. Some friendships will last forever

This semester abroad made me also realized that I have some friendships that will last forever! No matter how much we see each other, friends will be friends.. Especially the ones I grew up with!

5. I kind of like iceskating

Last time I went iceskating was like ages ago. But I couple of weeks ago I went again with some friends here in Munich and I realized I kind of like it! This is definitely a thing I will do more often next year!

6. I also like beer, actually

Yes, I´m a wine lover! I actually drank beer just sometime but really really rarely. Since the Oktoberfest here in Munich I realize I really enjoy beer and there are these beer moments which are irreplaceable with wine.

7. Working is harder than I thought

In this semester I also did an internship in a marketing and PR-agency and I had the chance to see how it´s like to work and to understand the whole dynamics of the working routine. Working is definitely harder than I thought.

8. Travel makes me the happiest person in the world

Yes. Travels are one of the most important things in my life. This year I traveled to Cuba, to Colombia, to Vienna, to Saint-Tropez, to Salzburg, Neuschwanstein and many other amazing places. Traveling makes me happy and I love to see new places and to meet new people during my travels. I´m already planning my travels for next year 😉.

9. I learned to live alone and to take more care of my stuff

Living alone is not like living my wonderful mother and my little (not anymore that little) brother. I have to take care of my house: cleaning, going to the grocery store, keep everything in order, do my laundry... But I love it. This year I became a more independent person and I realized I can take care of myself.

This 2016 has been an amazing year: so many beautiful things happened, but also some less beautiful things that made me grew as a person.

My wish for this new year is that it will be even greater that the past year for all of us.