From heartbreaking stories to real progress in movements, 2018 has surely been a roller coaster for everyone and will go down as one of the most memorable years for this generation.

Starting at number ten, the controversial story of Serena Williams having to wear a tutu during one of her matches due to a dress coding incident. After giving birth to her child, she suffered blood clots that were harmful to her health that required her to change up her tennis outfit and instead wear a compression catsuit. President of the French Tennis Federation, Bernard Giudicelli said her catsuit crossed a line. Williams did not want to push the disagreement further and wore a tutu, a statement piece everyone was talking about.

Continuing on with athletics brings us to number nine, Larry Nassar was the USA gymnastics national team doctor and also an osteopathic physician at Michigan State University. Contrary to his impressive titles, more than 265 women accused Nassar of sexual assault charges, including gymnasts popular in the media today such as Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles.

At number eight, the worldwide issue is climate change and global warming. Some major disasters that the U.S. faced included the tragedies of hurricane Florence and more than 14 horrible wildfire outbreaks in California. The discussion of global warming also gained popularity this year because of the widespread access to social media, where people that were angry and fed up became more proactive and have high hopes for environmental changes in 2019.

The more controversial news for the U.S. at number seven is immigration and family separation. With Trumps “Zero Tolerance Policy” in play, families were being separated at the border and causing emotional harm that is detrimental to the mental health of children and parents. Advocates for keeping families together actively protested in a bi-partisan outcry for those without voices during 2018. With a goal of keeping families together, they hope to make an impact in upcoming years.

The death of George H. W. Bush comes in at number six. People all over America belonging to various political parties felt the universal sadness of the death of our former president. Democrats and Republican alike had respect for President Bush as he was described as a nobleman with a well-deserved legacy throughout his presidency and his personal life. 2018 brought the deaths of many idolized people, Bush and his service towards the U.S. will live on forever in the memories of our nation.

The midterm elections hold a spot on number five. The Democrats won the house, winning 40 seats to claim 235-199 majority for the new session. Republicans still hold the Senate, creating a divide in government in Washington for the upcoming two years. The Republicans have held the house for six years under the Obama administration but only controlled the house in the two final years of Obama’s presidency. According to his twitter, President Donald Trump was very upset with his belief of disrupted financial markets as well as his theory that states, “They only want to impeach me because they know the can’t win in 2020, too much success!” Other than that, Trump has primarily focused on his “very big win” and is prepared to fight with the house if they chose to continue an investigation of him and his administration. The House is historically the most diverse: with Millenials under the age of 40, more women, more people of color, more veterans, and one LGBTQ person elected, the next two years are likely to make an impact.

For number four, former lawyer of President Donald Trump, Michael Cohen faced five counts of tax evasion, one count of making false statements to a financial institution, one count of willfully causing an unlawful corporate contribution, and one count of making an excessive campaign contribution at the request of a candidate (Donald Trump), an accumulative eight criminal charges to which he pleaded guilty. Cohen helped stir up a question that the Muller investigation has been trying to solve: Did Trump or any of his associates conspire with Russia during the 2016 presidential election? As of right now, both sides patiently wait for the results.

The controversy of the Kavanaugh vs. Ford case makes number three. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh had sexual assault allegations against him on behalf of Christine Balsey Ford, and the whole case was based on a “he said she said” standard as a case with little concrete evidence to back up either person. This was a massive deal during 2018 because of the fact that the Justices are held in their position for life. This case had an impact on the MeToo movement, and people came forward from all different perspectives sharing their thoughts on the case. Kavanaugh was sworn into office and was found not guilty.

Coming in at number two was the tragic loss of revolutionary scientist Stephen Hawking. Hawking was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author. He made the massive contributions of applying Einstein’s theory of singularities in gravitational collapse, (relating to the big bang), black hole mechanics and how they’re characterized, how black holes vanish based on his drawing of the quantum theory, the possibilities of how galaxies arise, and the wave function of the universe. Hawking had a massive impact on the science community and inspired generations of scientists. His loss affects the entire world.

Perhaps the most talked about for number one, was the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. This was such an important and heartbreaking topic for many reasons. It tapped into the dangers that journalists face today by going out into the world to provide news for the public, as well as the political controversy pertaining to the connections between Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia. The issues with political and economic connection were questioned relating to Khashoggi as well as the treatment of the media, as well as the worth of human life.