Music2017 was a great year for music in my eyes. I've gotten the chance to listen to several new artists, including Thomas Rhett and Halsey. Perhaps my most important discovery this year was Kesha, who's helped me immensely through personal struggles. 2017 also saw the triumphant return of Taylor Swift, my favorite singer and role model.

It's been interesting to watch the evolution of several artists who made comebacks this year. Harry Styles released his highly-anticipated solo debut during One Direction's seemingly-indefinite hiatus, and his sound has certainly ventured from the pop tunes he once put out. I never really listened to Lorde, but I really enjoyed both Pure Heroine and this year's Melodrama. Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato both released great albums as well, although I haven't had a chance to listen to their back-catalogues.

Aside from new releases, I explored several old albums that were really fun to listen to. I've rediscovered my love for Nirvana that ignited after I played some of their songs on Guitar Hero almost ten years ago. Pierce the Veil have grown to become one of my favorite bands, and I've listened to a decent portion of Avril Lavigne and Lady Gaga's discographies. GeniusI'm quite proud of my onsite accomplishments this year. I've worked on Artist Archives for My Chemical Romance and Taylor Swift, my two favorite artists, although I made some formatting mistakes on the latter that it took me a while to fix. I also uploaded a lot more of my own music, and I've truly appreciated the kind comments I have received.

A good portion of my summer was spent working on Modern Rock Cleanup with a tight-knit group of music fans that I'm glad to call my friends. Our evenings would start with an hour-long run-through of a Panic! At the Disco song, and even after our work was complete for the night, we'd hang out and talk for hours on end. On July 19th, the six-year anniversary of when I saw Taylor Swift live, Alternative Press, one of my favorite magazines, posted an article to their site about Genius annotations, and they name-dropped me. Towards the end of the summer, after Taylor Swift dropped a handful of songs, and Elle even incorporated some of my work into one of their articles, which was a pretty surreal moment.

I got to participate in the Year End List for the first time, and although my crusade to get Taylor on the list was unsuccessful, I got to write about Kesha and Harry Styles. I've gotten to make a lot of friends onsite this year which has been an incredible experience - I love speaking to you all, bonding over our shared love of music, and learning what it's like to see things from your points of view. PersonalPersonally this has been a big year for me. In the beginning of 2017, I was dealing with the aftermath of an emotionally abusive relationship and trying to help one of my then-best friends, who got himself into a pretty sticky situation. Both of those things really took a toll on me, and I had trouble seeing that light at the end of the tunnel for the situation. Things started turning around after my aunt asked me to be the godmother of my baby cousin. I'm not a very religious person, and I've been questioning what my beliefs really are, but it meant a lot to me to be asked something so big by such an important person in my life. 2016 was a really tough year where I didn't get many "light" moments, so it was nice to get one of those light moments during the first half of the year.

This year, I've grown closer with the friends who are actually there for me, rather than the ones who refuse to hear me out and cast me out instead. I've found an unbelievable support system both in person and online, something I didn't have last year, which I'm grateful for. I've been able to step away from the hard times and evaluate what I want to be in life. I want to be the girl who had the courage to do what she felt the need to, which is probably one of the reasons I told the guy I liked that I like him. Although it didn't wind up going my way, I'm still glad I worked up the courage to tell him. I wouldn't have been able to do that two years ago. I've also learned that you don't need to keep everyone you meet in your life, something my idol has also picked up on. If you carry too many things, they'll slip out of your hands eventually, so you might as well choose what you leave behind.