New Year’s Resolutions: The good, the bad and the ugly

With a new year and a new semester under way, Utah State University students are setting new goals to change for the better. Whether it’s to improve upon their grades, eat healthier or be more positive, people all over campus are resolving to make 2017 their best year yet.

Resolutions can be some large feat that you finally overcome such as finishing your last semester or finally getting that promotion at work, or they can be small and simple things such as looking for something positive every day. No matter how difficult or simple resolutions may be, the majority of students are all working towards changing or accomplishing something this year.

Freshman, Emily Shaffer, made some resolutions of her own for the coming year.

“I’ve made resolutions to focus on school and decide where I want my life to go. I always try to focus on developing qualities and talents that I feel are important in my life,” she said.

Shaffer said her family will always sit down and talk with each other about where they want their lives to go in the coming year. She is hoping to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and she has spent part of the break discussing with her parents what she can do personally to accomplish this goal. Shaffer said that she doesn’t have to be 100% perfect. She’s happy just as long as she gets better.

Jessica Alvari is another student who is choosing to work on changing some aspects of her life this year. Her resolutions in the past have focused on making herself better and this year is no exception.

“To decide on my resolutions, I look back over the last year to realize things that I should have done better at or want to change,” she said. “I find it easier to reach goals when you are accountable to someone else, so sharing my resolutions with someone always helps me to accomplish it.”

Alvari also feels that there are a lot of cliche resolutions that people set every year that are either out of their control or they just simply don’t stick.

“Let’s be honest, most people set the goal of working out more and I’ve flopped at that goal every year along with a lot of other people. Resolutions about relationships are also silly to me. That’s not always something you can control. If you’re aiming to get married are you just going to hope you find that special guy or girl, or are you going to end up settling?” she said.

Although it is a very popular thing to do this time of year, not everyone chooses to set specific resolutions at the beginning of the year. Some feel that setting a large goal at the beginning of the year will just end up in failure, while others try to set more goals periodically throughout the year, rather than setting them all in January.

Kassidy Jacobson is one student who does not get too excited about the hype of a new year mindset.

“I don’t set resolutions because I do not really find them to be realistic. By the end of the year, I just want to feel as though I was productive and passed certain goals that I set throughout the year,” she said.

Tawney Barfuss is another student who chooses not to set resolutions for the new year.

“I don’t make resolutions because if I did, I would never stick to them for a whole year. I’m more of a long-term person. I make life goals. One of my current goals is to graduate with my bachelor’s degree and then continue on to vet school,” she said.

Setting new goals and resolutions is something that can be done at any point in the year. Working towards a new goal doesn’t have to begin Jan 1. Students are consistently setting new goals throughout the year to improve themselves.

Sophomore, Morgan Smith, strives to set goals every week depending on what he feels he needs to work on. He said setting goals is a really important part of everyone’s life.

“Setting goals and achieving them makes us happier, healthier, makes us have more self confidence and helps us to know we can accomplish things,” he said.

— shelbstoor11@aggiemail.usu.edu

@shelbstoor11