Old Year, New Year
Mollie Hand
Published January 02, 2026
5 Minute Read
2025: A Bad Year?
"Oh no, I'll never get my steps in now!" As I felt the impact of the truck knocking me down in the busy intersection of 3rd Street and Grand Avenue, that may not have been my first thought on New Year's Day 2025, but it definitely came to my mind at some point before the ambulence arrived. Yes, my 2025 started out by being hit by a full-size pickup truck, the type of vehicle with the long, tall hood, that puts the driver so high above the ground that they can't see what's in front of them. I was heading west on Grand Avenue when I stopped at the red traffic light. I waited patiently for it to turn green, and I had the walk signal. To my right facing west was that pickup truick waiting for the light to change so it could turn left. Next thing I remember was sensing the giant truck heading toward me behind my right shoulder. I screamed out as I started running. The scream may have saved me, because the driver put on the breaks -- just not quickly enough to avoid slamming into my right side and forcing me to fall forward.
I know it could have been worse. But it was a bad start to a bad year.
Here's an interesting read by John Read in Psychology Today on this subject:
After the first day of January, many things in the United States began to get hit, too. DOGE reportedly cut 29,000 government employees, including my niece who worked iat the Department of Health and Human Services. My former student from China was informed by immigration that he would have to go back to China after Trump's newest immigration policies. He had been accepted into a great graduate school. (Later this year, the policy was reversed, but it gave him quite the scare.) There were many more sad things in 2025, but I don't want to dwell.
The End of a Bad Year
One nice thing about 2025 was that UW hosted two new YSEALI scholars. Our department enjoyed getting to know Amirah Angullia from Malaysia. She and Ratha Sokunthea, the other scholar from Cambodia, read books at my son's school just as Suci had the year before!
Later in 2025, things continued to take a turn for the better. The first turning point was a day my husband and I were visiting our new two-story residential dining hall for lunch. I was walking up the stairs when it dawned on me that I no longer felt knee pain. (This was October, so I had been in pain or recovering for the first ten months of the year.) A second pivot for 2025 was finding out I would be heading to Indonesia! The crunch of packing and preparation would take place during the holiday break.
Unseasonable Laramie Christmas
Global warming was another culprit for 2025. We had such moderate weather for Christmas. When we went on a hay ride, it just didn't feel very Christmassy. Luckily, the carols and good cheers made up for it. We hosted dinner with our family of seven, my niece and her dog, and a family friend. Then we were blessed with the honor of a guest who was down on her luck.
Finally on December 27, we got some snow. It was enough for a snow man. These distractions kept me from starting to pack for the trip. As I write this, I'll be leaving in two days, and I'm still not quite ready.
Time to Pack
I'm writing this in my office during a very quiet time on campus. This will be my only day in the office until January 22! Suci shared a great packing list with me after our last Zoom call, so it's time to get serious. I'm so excited to get on that airplane on Sunday and start my adventures!
