New Year New Mentality

New Year’s Resolutions are often associated with purchasing gym memberships or working on healthy eating, but for some members of the Seabury community, mental health is just as important as physical health, especially during such a stressful time as this

“In light of what is going on in the world, I have been wanting to do more things for myself and for the better. I want to spend time doing things that I enjoy,” says eighth grader Kiefer Bullock.

Faculty member Scott Rowe is also focusing on what is best for him: “My New Year’s resolutions are just to continue to do what I’ve been doing. That would be continuing to work on my exercise, continuing to work on my yoga and continuing on working on understanding Buddhism.”

Although mental health is a big focus this year, people are still determined to stay physically healthy as well. “I’m trying to run more, because I am a runner. I also want to try to keep my grades up to A’s. They are currently, but I want to keep them that way,” says sixth grader Charlotte Helling. 

Helling is not the only one focused on athletics and academics: “I want to stay active, stay involved with cross country and improve my personal records. I also want to get more sleep,” says sophomore Oona Nelson. “Just keep working hard in school and in sports,” she adds. 

Bullock is also focused on staying active: “I am trying to skate more and I am trying to play more tennis and more basketball. I am trying to get back on the ‘health train,’ if you will.” 

New Year’s resolutions are notorious for rarely lasting the whole length of the year. When asked if she would consider herself successful in accomplishing her goals thus far, Nelson says, “I would say I have been successful in staying fit and working hard both academically and physically, but I still need to get more sleep.” That seems to be the consensus among other students as well.

“I’d say I’ve been pretty successful thus far,” says Bullock. “I have been putting in more hours on and off the court.”

Rowe shares his thoughts on the idea of how the new year tends to spark a desire for change and self-reflection. “I think the new year is a good time to reevaluate, or look at what you have been working on and to make any adjustments that you need,” says Rowe. When asked if he thought that making resolutions during the New Year could make you more successful at achieving goals, Rowe had this to say: “I think if you have a goal and you are working towards the goal, even if you don’t achieve the goal [it] doesn’t mean you are not successful. If you’re working towards something, I think that is success.”

Overall, the New Year can be a good time to initiate change within yourself but also take time to reflect on who you already are. Especially during these difficult times, members of the Seabury community are checking on themselves, and continue to set and work towards ambitious goals.