It’s finally 2021, and the wait for the new year is no more. After a year filled with complex politics, a pandemic and a great deal of protests, many are happy to begin implementing their New Year’s resolutions.
Ohio University students are awaiting normalcy with the start to a new semester. The ending of 2020 lifted a weight many didn’t know they had.
“I was happy that 2020 ended, and it seems like things might be going back to normal,” Olivia Snoddy, a freshman studying meteorology, said. “It was a really weird year, so I'm happy about it ending.”
The year 2020 was spent indoors during quarantine, so it was a pivotal time for self-growth. However, the quick end to a long year left many with hopes that this year will be better.
“2020 was definitely a roller coaster,” Abby Mcanerney, a freshman studying human biology, said. “The whole first year, the first semester of college being online during a pandemic was really difficult. But I'm really excited to have a new year to start over and be on campus and start fresh.”
Snoddy and Mcanerney both agree that an in-person semester will be the beginning of a new journey to positivity during 2021.
“I'm just basically focusing on having better time management and working on things like finding study skills that work better for me,” Mcanerney said. “I was kind of struggling with that last semester.”
Snoddy agrees and continues to emphasize that making new friends is a shared resolution of many.
New Year’s resolutions are personal and vary depending on everyone. Some may be personal goals or an overlying moral for the year.
“Going into the new year, a big goal of mine would be gratitude — to be more grateful and be more aware about certain privileges and things that I have that not everybody has,” Sami Brodsky, a senior studying chemistry pre-medicine, said. “Also to make sure that I spend quality time with people, because, especially in 2020, I learned that family was a big part that I guess I took for granted in a way. Being quarantined with them, I really learned to appreciate that.”
Brodsky agrees that having a specific resolution is difficult, and learning to find a healthy resolution is a challenge.
“I know a lot of people do resolutions and what resolution means to someone is totally different,” Brodsky said. “But to me, I always try to make ‘resolutions’ because I always try to be my best self. I think it's really important when making a resolution to think about it. Here's an example: a lot of common resolutions are to eat healthier or to work out. Well, I try to focus on doing good things toward my body rather than trying to rule out, ‘OK, so I'm not eating bread.’ I'm gonna maybe listen to my body more and not be as strict as that.”
This year leaves another clean slate, and healthy New Year’s resolutions are crucial for growing as an individual. Brodsky exercises the effects of self-growth before changing one’s appearance.
“I think that you should focus on a topic,” Brodsky said. “So if you want to improve your health in some sort of aspect: maybe it is to lose weight; maybe it's just to consume more vegetables throughout your day; or maybe it's just to get like a 10-minute walk in every day. Pick some category, and then I think maybe look in that category and see how you can choose a resolution. Maybe not make it something that's so targeted toward yourself — maybe something that will help you grow more as a person.”
