Most Iona students have experienced a breakup – whether it be with a romantic relationship or a friendship – that has made them familiar with its stages of grief, denial, anger, bargaining, depression and, finally, acceptance.

Each of these stages take time, but they all ultimately lead to the “acceptance” stage. Pop star Ariana Grande has managed to wrap all those stages and emotions into one amazing song, “thank u, next.”

Following her breakup with ex-fiancé Pete Davidson from “Saturday Night Live,” Grande has been working on her career nonstop. She announced her Sweetener World Tour and released her new single “thank u, next” from an upcoming album.

Most fans were not only surprised by the song’s unannounced release – as Grande released it unexpectedly, shortly before an episode of “Saturday Night Live” aired – but by its meaningful lyrics as well.

In the song, Grande refers to some of her famous exes by name, even giving tribute to the late Mac Miller. She sings, “Wish I could say ‘Thank you’ to Malcolm / because he was an angel.”

She also sings about how she is moving on to another relationship that she thinks is going to last – a relationship with herself. By doing so, Grande has created a breakup song we haven’t seen in a while – she discusses the empowerment that comes when you focus on the most important relationship in your life: the one with yourself.

Another subject that she embraces in the song is gratitude. Grande mentions the names of her exes, not to be petty or to get the last word, but to thank them for the memories and for their contributions to her past. In the midst of thanking them, Grande repeatedly sings “next” to signify that she knows there are bigger and better things ahead for her.

Memes based on the song have also started popping up. If you search ‘one taught me love, one taught me patience, and one taught me pain’ on Twitter, you will see an array of different images that are sure to give you laughs.

In addition to releasing “thank u, next,” Grande announced an upcoming album of the same name. The album will have no collaborations or duets with other artists, according to a tweet by the singer. Arianators – the name for Grande’s fans – on every social media platform are preparing for the release, which is scheduled to be sometime before the end of this year.

What I personally would love to see come from this album are more songs with the message that “thank u, next” has – songs that are about self-empowerment and working on yourself instead of getting worked up over others. In other words, songs that turn negative energy into something positive while also breaking the charts.

Grande is completely reinventing herself this time around and by the looks of it, the changes we are going to see – in both her personal growth and music – are going to be amazing! You can take my word for it when I say I will be streaming this album the night it comes out.