Nineteen ninety-six was a year of excitement, tragedy and controversy. There were inspiring events and dramatic obstacles people overcame.

We heard and witnessed many scenes we hope will never again happen and many we will want to relive many times.

Scenes like Muhammad Ali raising the Olympic torch and the Iowa State men’s basketball team capturing the Big 8 Championship are inspiring.

However, incidents like TWA flight 800’s Atlantic plunge that killed more than 200 people and the shooting spree that took the lives of school kids and their teacher in Scotland are images forever ingrained in our memories that we wish weren’t there.

For many, it was also a year of personal achievements and public losses.

Michael Johnson became the world’s fastest man and Bob Dole lost the presidency after a valiant campaign.

But however great or terrible these experiences have been, they are always bound to change a person in some way. The environment in which we live is constantly changing by events that affect how we view the world, the decisions we make and the paths we choose in life.

For everyone, 1996 brought about many changes, good and bad, in ourselves, our lives, our society. Whether people, as individuals, cherish their accomplishments or put the past behind them, they usually end the year by diving into tradition. They celebrate with family and friends. They drink wine, watch movies, watch sports and they watch the ball drop in Times Square on New Year’s Eve.

They start over.

Next year is only a few days away and people have many traditional plans between now and Jan. 1. However, ending the year by breaking away from tradition is just as good a way to start over.

Almost every winter break I’ve stayed home with my family in Davenport. This year we’re breaking this tradition for a week and traveling to Saudi Arabia.

The purpose of the one-week trip is more of a religious obligation than anything else. We’re going to visit Mecca, the holy city of Islam and the birthplace of Allah’s messenger, Prophet Muhammad.

This journey, or pilgrimage, is one required of all Muslims at least once in their lives. Literally thousands from around the world flock the city each day for this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The religious rituals involved when in Mecca, I’ve been told, are a very spiritually enlightening and heartwarming experience. I’m excited and I can’t wait.

Our journey starts when we leave Chicago on Dec. 24 and arrive in Saudi the next day.

We’ll stay in Mecca for three days and then travel to the city of Medina, the site of Prophet Muhammad’s grave, for a two-day stay.

Our trip will end on Dec. 31 when we will be back in the United States. Back in time to ring in the new year at home. But I’ll probably be so tired anyway, there’s a good chance I’ll welcome 1997 with sleep.

The point of this whole experience will be to fulfill something that my family and I have wanted to do for a long time.

How this experience will change me, I don’t know. How this experience will change, if at all, of how I view the world, I don’t know.

But if this journey turns out the way I hope it will, it will be my highlight of the year — the last week of 1996. That I do know.

What holds for each and every one of us in 1997 is a mystery. Waiting to solve this mystery, whether it changes one’s life for better or worse, is half the battle. But not knowing how the mystery will be solved is also half the fun.

Breaking tradition for one year is part of this fun. It will surely change a person. How it will change one is up to the individual.

Nineteen ninety-seven, a year holding new changes and events, is right around the corner.

Taking advantage of these changes to benefit people, their lives and society is hard. But making the most of the opportunity to change is an opportunity at a new life in a new year.

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Shuva Rahim is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Davenport.