Now that 2017 has arrived, many people may choose to reflect on the past year, and may want to strive for a better year than the last. New Year’s Resolutions are great goal setters for the new year, and could also be a way to prioritize what you plan on doing in this new calendar year. Along with hoping for the best, one may also be challenging yourself to try things that you may not typically do in your daily life.

Some people think that making a resolution for the new year is a good idea, believing that it gives you a fresh start. It makes a personal check-list of things one would like to accomplish in the upcoming year. It could also be considered as a holiday tradition, so some people may just participate in writing resolutions just for fun. The idea of evaluating your year and writing down possible ways to make the new year a better one may seem time-consuming, but if one is determined to have a resolution for the year, the task is doable.

“It’s a cool idea,” freshman Joe Forlines said. “You make a self-promise to do better than you did the year before.”

Although some people think resolutions are a cool idea, there are people who think otherwise.

“You forget about them really easily,” freshman Helena Rowland said. “I end up either altering them or just plain breaking them.”

Humans are known for being forgetful, and one’s New Year’s Resolution is no exception to that. One may be so caught up in other things that completing their resolution could be the last thing on their mind. Others may only be writing a resolution because they feel as though they cannot break a tradition: they may not want to compose one, but feel as though they may have to.

Rowland and several others think that writing down goals for the new year is a waste of time, saying that most people never fulfill them. Along with people who have decided to not participate in writing a resolution, others may also write them down but never fulfill their tasks. One may forget about their resolutions at some point in the year, which is not necessarily a bad thing. One could have written something on their resolution that they later decided they do you want to complete. Some may feel that keeping up with a New Year’s Resolution is restrictive to their life, for it may seem more like a rule book than a resolution. There could be other reasons why one would not desire to write a resolution for the new year, all that matters is that people have hope for the new year.

“People say they’ll do better (next year) even though you know that you’re going to forget or alter them again,” Rowland said. 

New Year’s Resolutions are only one of the many traditions you can participate in to ring in the new year. No matter what one do to prepare themselves for the new calendar year, whether it’s write a resolution or not, be sure to go into 2017 with the hope of having the best year yet.