Resolute Resolutions

The holidays are done, dusted and buried seven feet under–a sad fact that students and teachers alike are no doubt acutely aware of as the Seabury community enters into the second full week of school. However, with both a new year, season and semester among us, this is undeniably a time for change. Self-improvement is the order of the day, and needless to say, this is reflected in winter’s most sacred, beloved and adored tradition: the New Year’s Resolution. 

When asked about his resolution last year, sophomore Aidan Page succinctly says: “I did not have a resolution.” 

Eighth grader Madeline Williams says, “I don’t think I really had one. I didn’t think about it.” 

“Last year, nah. Never really gone out [and had a resolution]. Recently, wasn’t there that thing where people were talking about how pointless resolutions are?” says senior Jude Black.

Despite last year’s apathy, students were more committed to having resolutions this year. “Less screen time and sleeping…more. I’ve been sleeping better. Like earlier. A little bit. Kinda. Like, maybe not staying up past midnight every night,” says Williams when asked about her current resolution. Though Williams’ sleep was greatly strengthened, when asked about her keeping up with her screen restrictions, she says, “No, and there’s reasons. Because like, school needs. I feel like if I put my mind to it I could [keep my resolution the whole year], but I don’t know that I will.” 

Junior AJ Brewer also had a resolution, saying, “I planned on putting more time and effort into making sure I get a certain amount of homework done each day, and a certain amount of reading as well . . . So far, it’s pretty good; going strong.” As for keeping it to the end of the year, Brewer says, “Maybe. I have a zero percent track record of keeping my resolutions up to this year. So probably not.”

 Similarly, Black says, “Recently I made [a resolution] to be a little less crass. Because if you know anything about me, I give very few…y’know . . .  I made a resolution to be a bit more polite, a little less [rough] . . . It’s going alright, surprisingly.”

On the contrary, when Page was asked if he had a resolution, he says, “No.” 

Sophomore Spencer Timkar’s word choice is different, saying, “Nope.”

When asked about the cultural aspect of New Year’s resolution, Williams says, “My family kinda collectively have done things like healthier dinners or less meat. We’ll [usually] change meals or something like that, and then we’ll forget about it after a month . . . I think it’s a good opportunity for people to fix problems in their lives or things that they don’t like that they’re doing. It’s like a wakeup call, or a reminder that you can change something in your life that you don’t like.” 

Brewer was also fairly positive, saying, “I think [resolutions are] pretty cool. It doesn’t seem like many people ever actually get to the end, but it’s a cool idea. The idea is good.”

 On the other hand, Black says, “It’s a good concept, but I feel like, at least for me, It’s not that easy to accomplish in practice, What’s more likely to happen than ‘Oh, I’m going to follow through on this,’ and you actually do it, is you just sort of forget that you made the promise and [when] someone reminds you, you’re like ‘Oh. Oh, I haven’t been doing this.’ . . . Generally, I don’t know the exact statistics here, probably because a lot of people would rather just not talk about their failures, but I get the feeling that people just don’t follow through on [resolutions] often. But the ones that do maybe come away feeling better. You have to be kinda good at it. You have to be good at remembering commitments.” 

Timkar thinks similarly, saying, “Nobody ever carries through… In theory it’s good, but nobody ever does it.”

Although students were universally positive about the concept of New Year’s Resolutions, many also acknowledged the sad reality of yearly commitments: that they are more likely to fall apart than not. Yet, despite the likelihood of a disappointing ending, students (at least this year) largely made resolutions anyways, bringing new hopes for new habits, new choices, and new change. With every year comes a chance to better ourselves, change unhealthy habits, and most importantly, to waste less time talking about how much sleep you didn’t get last night.