New Year's Resolutions

By Jaden Lam

With 2020 being a whirlwind of a year, it is only expected that more people than usual have come up with New Year's resolutions for themselves.

Motivation was a common theme found among students’ goals. There is no doubt COVID was tough on all of us. It trapped us in our houses for a long time, and being cooped up in a house doesn’t help with laziness, leading many people to procrastinate.

We were all forced to adapt to new routines and adopt new habits, some of which were not very beneficial to our health. 2020 interrupted our exercise schedules. Some people couldn’t go to the gym, forcing us to create new habits in our fitness routines. Sports were limited and there was much difficulty to keep them going whilst following the CDC guidelines and social distancing. Many students this year are aiming to get more active and keep to a regular exercise routine.

Eating a nutritious diet is another way students plan on maintaining great health. The more you are at home, the more likely you are to lounge around, unconsciously snacking while watching TV, playing video games, or while reading a book. In the company of a spreading virus, people are wanting to minimize their risk of catching the virus by being healthy.

With the school shut down creating a lack of routine for students, consequently, teenage sleep schedules were out of place. You have to admit, you know at least one person (or maybe you were that person(!)) who adjusted their sleep schedule accordingly to reflect the lack of routine in our days. Eventually, it became a part of many students’ daily habits.

2020 was also rough on everyone’s mental health, especially to those that rarely, or never, saw their friends. Countless people have found it difficult to communicate with their friends and retain close relationships with them. So, this year numerous people are trying to reconnect on a social level again. By moving interactions off of social media and replacing them with in-person interactions (covid safe, of course!) not only do our relationships improve, but our mental healths will be better, too!

It can be difficult to maintain happiness when an abundance of our entertainment was stripped away from us during these tough times. Last year, various students tried to dig deep for things that brought them happiness. Now this year, we are trying to remain content. Many students are focussing on making gratitude journals to keep them grounded, while others are making inspiration boards to remind themselves of what really matters in life!

In addition, some students made some new year's resolutions that didn’t revolve around the pandemic, such as becoming more educated on the issues present in the world, studying harder, getting more involved with extracurricular activities, expanding their interests, learning new things, and helping the community more.

With 2021 bringing fresh opportunities to people of all ages, I encourage you to make some new resolutions of your own!