Over the course of the last few years, the world has been chaotic, and this year’s senior class got to witness some of those moments. Here are just a few of the most important events of the last four years that have defined the Class of 26’s experience.
RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR
In early 2022, Russian forces entered the country of Ukraine and shocked the world with a sudden attack. The conflict was a major escalation of the fighting that took place between the two nations in 2014. Since the conflict began, it has become the most deadly European conflict since World War II. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the fighting has tragically resulted in over a million people being either injured or killed, as well as diminishing ties between Russia and Western nations.
With this being no doubt one of the most important events in modern geopolitics, the United States has sent nearly $188 billion in aid consisting mostly of weapons and artillery to Ukraine. A remainder of the is indirectly going towards the conflict by increasing funding for the U.S. military presence in Europe.
As a form of retaliation against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, both the U.S. and the European Union have imposed economic sanctions on Russia. They also restricted access to global markets and dropped revenue in the energy sector, making it the most sanctioned nation in the world.
This war has continued all the way into 2026 and is effectively at a stalemate, making it more into a war of attrition. In 2025 alone, Russia gained less than one percent of Ukrainian territory but suffered major losses. What was once thought to be a conflict that would be resolved quickly has turned into a four-year devastating ordeal for both sides, with hopes of being resolved soon.
THE 2024 ELECTION
The 2024 US Presidential election was one of the most pivotal moments in recent memory, both domestically and overseas. This election was regarded by some as one of the most important elections in American history. Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris took on then former President and Republican nominee Donald Trump.
The time leading up to election day proved to be controversial and divisive, with the main issues focusing on the economy, immigration, abortion and foreign policy. After Trump’s first term, starting in 2017, he ran against former Vice President Joe
Biden and lost despite being the incumbent. This time around, he campaigned to be the second president ever to serve two
non-consecutive terms.
Trump campaigned using the slogan “Take America Back” instead of the former “Make America Great Again” slogan used in
his 2016 presidential campaign. At the beginning of the election cycle, people had concerns about whether or not the sitting president at the time, President Biden, was fit to run for another term. However, a chaotic presidential debate between Trump and Biden it made evidently clear that Biden was in declining health and not able to run another presidential campaign. Major concerns began to surface about the president’s cognitive health, age, stamina and fitness. In light of these concerns, Biden faced pressure from high-profile Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to drop out of the race.
After President Biden withdrew from the race, Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee for president in 2024. Choosing a running mate for both candidates was also a point of contention, with many different names being presented as
possibilities. Trump was the first to announce his VP candidate, choosing Ohio Senator JD Vance. For the Democrats, Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Donald Trump would go on to win the Presidential Election on Nov. 5, 2024, winning the electoral vote 312-226 as well as winning the popular vote. This would be the first time that a Republican has won the popular vote since George W. Bush in 2004. Trump would also go on to win all seven swing states.
Though the election is over, the Trump Administration has not been without controversy two years into the term. Currently, Vice President Vance looks to be the top choice for the Republican Party in 2028. However, for the Democratic Party, that choice is not as clear.
THE RISE OF AI
In recent years, society has had increased widespread access to never-before-seen AI platforms. After theofficial release of ChatGPT on Nov. 30, 2022, through OpenAI, other AI platforms, like Grok and Gemini, have been released. ChatGPT specifically has boomed in popularity in recent years, and as of early 2026, the platform has amassed over 900 million active weekly users. Some people argue that the involvement of AI in our society and the advancement of AI technologies in thefuture can help with problem-solving and decision-making. By taking out human error, productivity can be increased which will spur economic growth.
However, people who are staunchly anti-artificial-intelligence argue that even though it can help with problem-solving, eventually, as it continues to grow, it will take over jobs, which in turn would displace workers by making those positions automated. Environmental concerns about the amount of energy that the models consume have also been expressed globally. According to the International Energy Agency, if artificial intelligence continues to grow at the same rate as it is right now, by 2035, the percentage of global energy consumption caused by AI could be as high as 3%.
However, those who are pro-AI say that artificial intelligence will optimize resource efficiency for renewable energy such as wind, water, solar and geothermal power. This, in turn, will reduce energy consumption for the datacenters that it runs on. AI will help speed up the developmental process of environmental science by discovering new resources for energy consumers.
Over the last four years, there have been many influential events that have captivated the lives of the general public, but these three specifically have stood out as especially impactful. As the Class of ‘26 looks toward graduation, they also look towards the future and what the next few years will bring.
