By Ashley Carroll–
New Year’s Resolutions traditionally entail renewing vows of chivalry, paying off debt and returning that sweater your friend let you borrow forever ago. In 2016, New Year’s Resolutions are still the same promises we make ourselves when the clock strikes midnight and a new year dawns. We promise to be regular gym attendees, vegans, better students, etc. However, do these promises to ourselves really mean anything? I wish someone would let me in on the secret to magically becoming a better person at the first of the new year. The only thing that really matters during this time is the year you write when you’re dating checks. Unless you’re turning 16, 18 or 21, it’s technically just another year of living.
Nothing is stopping you from changing your life and doing a complete one-eighty on April 3rd or July 22nd. Personally, I’ve never kept any of the resolutions I’ve made. I used to pledge to try harder in school every year, but in the end it’s all about the work you have to put into these promises to yourself. I realized that I shouldn’t keep renewing these pledges to myself, because goals shouldn’t be something you renew. If you already seek to strive for excellence, thrn you live life constantly with these goals in mind.
I asked a couple of students how they felt about resolutions, and what they had to say wasn’t much better than what I think. Jacob Miletta, a freshman, was asked if he had made any resolutions.
“I did. But I forgot them,” Miletta said. “I don’t think they matter as much as they used to.” There are many people out there like Miletta, those who have made resolutions and have already broken them, or even forgotten them. So basically don’t worry, you’re not alone on this one.
The start of a spring semester is a fresh start for a lot things, including academics. And believe me, writing your resolutions in a Facebook status will not hold you to accountable very long. Logging off of Facebook might actually improve your grades. The only thing that can make you open a textbook is yourself. If one of your resolutions was to attend class on a more consistent basis, maybe the concept of college hasn’t even gotten across to you. U of L takes your money whether you get all A’s or straight D’s, and certainly when you don’t attend class. From this point on, go into each semester believing in yourself, not just the start of the spring semester.
Let’s be honest, even if you somehow succeed in maintaining your resolutions for longer than the first two weeks of the new year, it’s very probable they’re not going to last until the Summer, or even midterms at that.
Resolutions are a one-time thing. If you want to be a better person, be a better person. Wake up tomorrow morning and change your own life. Brianna Gibson, a freshman, said it best, “They just end up being a waste of time.” So next December, don’t sit around on New Years Eve and make a list of resolutions. Instead, you can wake up next Tuesday and decide to go the gym.
