It’s that time of the year! We would like to invite you to reflect on this past year and share your insights and your stories with us.
Looking for some inspiration?
Check out the winner’s essays of WOTY 2021 or the submission update.
So many things happened in the year of 2022. Do you think you will have a hard time finding your particular topic? Use Wordsmyth Word Explorer topics and keywords to explore your memory and emotions. Once you narrow down your topic, you will find a list of related words for you to use in your writing.
Discouraged by having to write an essay about the year of 2022?
Try out Wordsmyth’s new writing tool (beta). It is designed to make writing easier. Write with the writing tool and copy and paste your final essay below.
The submission is closed. Thank you for your participation.
We will select words and stories to post on the Wordsmyth blog and on social media. At the end of the year 2022, our editors will review and select the 3 best essays. The winners of the WOTY 2022 Essay Contest will receive a free subscription for 2023. If the winner is a student, they will have a choice to receive an individual subscription or a free educational group subscription for their school.
Word of the Year 2022 submission update
12/09/2022
| Essay: The Year of 2022 | WOTY 2022 | How old are you? | Is English your first language? |
|---|---|---|---|
| To me, 2022 can be best described by the word “aware”. Many young people, such as myself, have become aware that war doesn’t only affect the countries experiencing the conflict directly but others as well. In the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine, Ukraine’s inability to export grain worsened the global hunger crisis. Gas prices have also skyrocketed, making the life of families who usually don’t appear to be struggling harder. We’ve also gained awareness of the changing temperature on our planet, as many of us have experienced heat waves firsthand this year. “Aware”, according to Wordsmyth, is ‘knowing or being aware’. In other words, it means to be conscious. But as this year nears its end, I am starting to realize that being aware can mean more than that. Eckhart Tolle, a German teacher, once said “Awareness is the greatest agent for change”; I believe this has definitely been true in 2022. For example, in early spring this year, high school students in Japan submitted a statement to the Russian embassy protesting Russia’s invasion. At COP27 in Egypt this year, wealthy countries agreed to give financial assistance to developing nations that have been affected by extreme weather events. Even through hardships, we should remember that awareness is the key to hope, and at one point, change. | Aware | ||
| This past year has been overwhelmed with challenges such as the ongoing COVID pandemic, inflation, crime, and supply shortages. Many people were afflicted with depression and hopelessness, and many businesses have permanently closed. Despite this, we also witnessed many people who succeeded and achieved enormous accomplishments. Their success cannot be attributed solely to luck, finances, or privilege. These people possessed a special quality called “excellence”;. People striving for excellence don’t seek perfection, for that does not tolerate any flaws and demands 100% performance at all times. Excellence demands people contributing their best efforts and competing against themselves. Those that incorporate the quality of excellence understand that life is a journey where each accomplishment is merely a step towards becoming better. Similar to Jacob’s dream in The Bible, these people understand that the path to success is achieved by reaching each rung on the ladder to the sky. It’s not achieved by taking the highway to heaven. I hope that everyone can make excellence a lifestyle behavior in 2023. | Excellence | over-18-years-old | Yes |
| Wow, 2022 was amazing. We got to be in 4th grade and be the leaders of the school. Everyone gave importance to us. We had a great superintendency. I hope that will happen even better in 5th grade. 2023 to the cheers!!! | superintendency | 9-years-old-and-younger | Yes |
| In a hectic, long, traumatic but thrilling year, i have to say, the only word that stands out to me most, is Acceptance. To accept someone for who they are, and not for what they have done is what this world needs most. From the shooting in Colorado to the walk out at Kalama Middle/High school, accepting those who are in the queer, or BIPOC community or both is what matters. | Acceptance | 15-18 | Yes |
| This year has so many things happening in my like and in the world. From the Ukraine war, to U.S election and the world cup. I have noticed that the word gaslighting was quite frequently circulating among social media users, | Gaslighting | over-18-years-old | no |
| We’ve been struggling more than ever during this year. Spring has opened with loud bombs and a silent peace is as distant as ever. The covid pandemic seemed to be over in the hot lively summer and now restrictions still continue to trouble people and nations. Autumn heavy rains are torturing our delicate and fragile environment and still political leaders find it hard to score a goal in their global Agenda. We need to find roads of reconciliation with our neighbours, our health, our Earth. We need to struggle for peace, make room for peace in our times and lives, treasure peace as the most wonderful Word of the year. Peace is all we need. | Peace | over-18-years-old | no |
| To me, 2022 can be best described by the word "aware". Many young people, such as myself, have become aware that war doesn’t only affect the countries experiencing the conflict directly but others as well. In the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine, Ukraine’s inability to export grain worsened the global hunger crisis. Gas prices have also skyrocketed, making the life of families who usually don’t appear to be struggling harder. We’ve also gained awareness of the changing temperature on our planet, as many of us have experienced heat waves firsthand this year. "Aware", according to Wordsmyth, is ‘knowing or being aware’. In other words, it means to be conscious. But as this year nears its end, I am starting to realize that being aware can mean more than that. Eckhart Tolle, a German teacher, once said "Awareness is the greatest agent for change." I believe this has definitely been true in 2022. For example, in early spring this year, high school students in Japan submitted a statement to the Russian embassy protesting Russia’s invasion. At COP27 in Egypt this year, wealthy countries agreed to give financial assistance to developing nations that have been affected by extreme weather events. Even through hardships, we should remember that awareness is the key to hope, and at one point, change. | Aware | 10-14 | no |
| So, I would like to speak about the word courage. This word is extraordinary when talking about my year of 2022. Peculiarly, I have had the courage to say that after all I’ve been through, and I’ll my ancestors have been through, and all my parents have been through, I didn’t come through all of that just to fit in with normalcy. In 2022, I had the courage to go after my dream, is there are a user left in the entirety of wordsmyth.net, that’s got some courage? I think we all honestly have the courage, I- I think we do. It takes courage to be exceptional. It takes courage to be knowledgeable. It takes courage to be rich. It takes courage to be educated. It takes courage to be wise. The moment you’re on this site, you’re like: Why am I doing this? I have the courage to be educated, and courage is the main reason why I came here. Without courage, I mean, who would’ve designed something so successful? That’s what I think about 2022. | Courage | 15-18 | Yes |
| THE YEAR 2022 IS VERY DELIGHT.As to social media make this hard year easy after pandemic COVID-19 many sites help kids to learn and make easier for exams suppose I prepared for my exams from KIDSWORDSMYTH and thus I make proud of my parents so that I named 2022 is the delight year 2022 delight shows clemency and my god was so merciful and prays listener so pray that my god can help to kids who are weak in study and i also pray for wordsmyth may god bless there work . | DELIGHT | 10-14 | No |
| When I think of this year, I think of one word. Emerge. We started off the year with the midst of a pandemic, which we are still in. But I feel, as we push on, we get our vaccines and we are careful, we are emerging. Working as a team to help push forward and really and truly, emerge. We will always be a community, the world, and at this time of change we will continue to work together, move on into the future and emerge. This pandemic might never end, but we’ll always have this lesson. We will be a stronger world. We will emerge. | Emerge | 10-14 | Yes |
| The year of 2022 shows me 3rd grade so it is fun | fun | 9-years-old-and-younger | No |
| This past year has been a blur of news about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, deep challenges to democratic institutions in the U.S., and a concentration of power in China. Accompanying these messages is deeply important message about the threatening impact of climate change. These events are on the surface of a deeply interdependent network of economic, social and political relationships. These relationships are shifting in a way that is difficult to understand and nearly impossible to control. Anger and frustration, or fear and passivity are common responses. We are responding only to the surface events, and interpretations of the forces influencing the underlying relationships are vague. There is only one clear message that I can find in these events. Our fate is not yet fully in our hands. So my word of the year for 2022 is democracy. We need to rediscover the potential of this word to focus our ideas for a future fully in the control of all people. | democracy | over-18-years-old | yes |