Beginning around 4000 years ago, the ancient Babylonians began the tradition of New Year’s Resolutions (Pruitt, History Channel). Though the strong religious connection hasn’t been seriously continued, the tradition plays on! Students and Staff of PRHS carry on with their resolutions, but will they actually complete these goals for themselves or is it just a silly tradition?
According to Jesus Echevarria (9), New Year’s Resolutions can sometimes be useless in the sense that motivation is the underlying necessity in completing any goal.
“There tends to be a lot of people that are like ‘Oh, I’m going to do this and that for New Year’s’, but they actually don’t do it,” said Echevarria.
Though he explained resolutions as being something to “fit in,” his personal goal for 2024 is to not eat lactose. He stated that it is something that “would drastically change his life.” He said that he has no one in particular helping him to complete his objective, and that it is basically at his own expense.
Keeping consistent with a challenging target can be difficult to pursue which Echevarria explained with transparency.
He added, “I’m just going to be real with you, I’m probably not going to be consistent with that whole lactose intolerant thing.”
Sophomore Ayda Sloan expressed that New Year’s Resolutions are “pretty good for people to have, but I don’t really
follow them sometimes,” and when asked what her goals were for herself she stated, “to be more organized, figure out how to time manage better, and then another one is probably to get homework on track.”
Contrary to Echevarria, Sloan explained that recently she’s had many friends that push her to achieve her aspirations for the upcoming year.
Additionally she said, “I always try to improve myself and my mindset, especially because I have an open mindset.”
To Ashlyn Legault (10), new year’s resolutions are very important, and for the upcoming year her goals are to study really hard and get straight A’s.
Similar to Sloan, she feels that she has a helpful support system around her. “I think my family is my biggest supporter and my teachers,” said Legault.
She explained that she sets these goals for herself because she likes having something to do and she will be doing everything possible to accomplish her objectives.
Legault stated, “I will definitely be studying and trying my hardest, but I also think it’s important to communicate with people and my teachers.”
As specified by sophomore Sara Espinoza, she thinks that “new year’s resolutions are a good way to improve yourself as long as you actually stick to them.”
Espinoza’s goals are to run more with her dog and get better at doing push ups, and comparable to Legault, she is also supported by her family. “My mom supports me by reminding me to do what I need to do,” said Espinoza.
Unlike Echevarria, she has a plan to stick to her goals no matter what, she explained, “I’ll set reminders in my phone and stick notes on my door to remind me.”
According to these Bearcats, new year’s resolutions can be very helpful and motivating for the upcoming year, and as 2023 comes to an end, it may be time to think about other goals to achieve within 2024.
