Goodbye 2025

We’re back at the end of another year, but we’re also on the precipice of the beginning of a new one. As is always the case, I like to say farewell to the year that we have lived through on the final day of the year, and today is no different. Tonight, we say farewell to 2025. At the end of 2024, I expressed concern about the US Presidential Election result, the return of a Commander-in-Chief in America who is synonymous with the post-factual era, and all the scary elements attributed to it. I was also nervous about the armed conflicts that continued to dominate the world. But I desperately tried to hold onto a hope that it wouldn’t be as bad as it looked like it could be, that the US election result and the rhetoric that immediately followed it weren’t as destructive as they had seemed, and that we could still find a way. I tried to remind my readers just how important it was to speak truth to power, to hold your leaders accountable, and to fight for justice. So, how were those fears and that hope reflected in the year that we actually got in 2025?

Although certain situations have changed, massive global conflicts are still here without an end in sight. My heart breaks for the goodhearted people around the world whose lives are being threatened. It should stop. Peace should prevail. Justice, human rights, and sovereignty have to be respected. And yet certain world leaders continue to spread misinformation, to make unjust provocations, and to disrespect historical international relations. Those fears that I mentioned were justified, but there is still hope if we continue to fight for our rights (and the rights of others) and if we continue to point out when influential representatives of nations around the world are blurring the lines between right and wrong. We have to ask for more and demand what’s right. What’s right matters. What’s just matters. Internationally recognized human rights and sovereignty matters. We can’t afford to be complacent when it comes to these things. In 2026, I hope that there are enough goodhearted people around the world who are willing and able to demand that leaders around the world live up to the internationally recognized human rights, that they safeguard peace, and that they will listen to verifiable truths and facts. 

I have had the privilege of teaching certain school subjects to young Ukrainian refugees in Denmark. My heart breaks for them every time I see how certain global leaders are working against their country, which is being threatened daily by the invaders’ actions and harmful rhetoric that seeks to put a strain on them and the democratic frameworks that hope to protect them. Another group whose future is in doubt due to unwanted North American provocations is the people of Greenland. It has been a tumultuous year for Greenland because of this, and the same goes for Denmark, whose status is inherently tied to that of our Greenlandic siblings. This year, I had the privilege of teaching Danish students about current developments in Greenland, including the chaotic international drama, but also about the Greenlandic general election. Getting to teach a class on the subject earlier this year was one of the personal highlights in 2025.

As some of you may know, I already hold a Master’s Degree from the University of Copenhagen (Københavns Universitet), and, in recent years, I have been working to gain new skills and open new doors or career paths by studying in a somewhat different field of study at University College Copenhagen (Københavns Professionshøjskole). In early 2026, my studies at University College Copenhagen will conclude, adding another degree to my CV, and I will soon be back on the job market pursuing the dream job I have long hoped to find. I am grateful for the fact that I live in a country where I can continue to study, to develop new skills, and to sharpen those skills that I have already acquired. I hope that now is the time for me to get the career opportunity that I have long desired.

I am also grateful for my family and my friends. As I always say, at the end of the day, all I want is for my loved ones to be healthy, to be happy, and to live long and fulfilling lives. As we say goodbye to 2025, and we get ready to begin 2026, my hope and wish on a personal scale is for their good health, their good fortune, their love, and their strength to continue forever. If you’re reading this, and if you, too, are goodhearted, then I am also extremely thankful for you, and I truly wish you the best in the coming year. Together, let’s try to make 2026 the best year that it can be.

Sending love, kind thoughts, and positive energy your way.

Happy New Year!!

– Article written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.