The New Year has always been regarded as a time for new beginnings, a fresh start, or hope for societal improvement. However, it always seems people lose their minds in the “New Year’s Resolution” craze every year. Some often do uphold their resolution until the next year, and then there’s those of us who stop trying by February. The origin of the New Year’s Resolution actually came from the Babylonians about 4,000 years ago, where they would make promises to their pagan gods. In modern day our resolutions are a bit less extreme, as most of us just vow to stop eating chocolate or to stop going to bed at one a.m. Nevertheless, New Year Resolutions are an opportunity for people to improve an aspect of their life, or come to realize that they failed to so. A few students from Thousand Oaks High School tell us a few of their resolutions for 2017.
“My resolution is to stop eating a whole family size bag of potato chips in one sitting” – Reece Peterson
“To find happiness” – Jack Hayes
“I’m going to tweet something that makes me happy everyday” – Angela Yu
“My resolution is staying off my phone, but I’m not sure how long that’ll last” – Sydny Grayson
“Eating healthier.” – Rihanna Harris
“I want to start exercising more, but the last time I tried to I fell and split my eye open. So I’m going to exercise with caution.” -Sydney Samona
“Maintaining my vegan lifestyle” – Megan Butler
“My goal this year is quitting softball.” – Allie Thompson
“Getting rid of my hair color, and dyeing it something else.” – Cailin Ackerman
“My New Year’s Resolution is becoming more mentally collected, and being prepared for what’s to come.” – Haley Darden
While some students at TOHS have quite a unique list of resolutions, many don’t bother with this trend anymore. Senior Bridget Rau explains her reasoning on why she abandoned making resolutions.
“I think after awhile having to come up with resolutions gets tiring, and I got tired of thinking of new and different ones every year. Besides, people are free to improve themselves at any time of the year, not just during New Years. I know other people are happy with how their lives are going, and don’t really feel the need for pointless resolutions.”
We’ll see how long these students stick to their New Year promises, and those who didn’t make any this year can sit back and watch as well.
Photo: Sally Mahoney // flickr
