As the saying goes, “New year, new me.”

This seems to be the common line used whenever we enter into another year. Many of our own monarchs feel the same way as we embark upon the year two thousand and nineteen. With the ending of an old year, all of the good and bad experiences have disappeared into the past, and we can now welcome in a whole new era, with hopes that it will offer us plenty of room for more wonderful experiences to enjoy.

However, the new year also gives us chances to improve certain aspects of our lives where we feel as though we’re either lacking something, or just simply not living up to our full potential. There lies the true meaning behind that old world-famous adage, “New year new me.” People just want a chance to improve their lives and habits, and what a better way to do that than through the fresh start guaranteed by the new year.

This January, I ventured out into our Menchville halls once again. I reached out to our very own teachers and faculty members to ask this one question- “What is your main new year’s resolution?” In return, I received many interesting and surprising answers.

It seems as though the new year allows many to think of the current state of their health, whether it be mental, physical or even spiritual.  This can also be said for those who recognize and want to improve some of their own personality traits that they think could be better, along with many people who want to kick bad habits. For instance, Menchville counselor Christopher Dunlap expressed, “This new year I’d like to improve my eating habits and stop allowing myself to become stressed.”  His response fell within the wellness and bettering category. When asked the same question, math teacher Kara Michaelian stated, “This year I want to learn how to love unconditionally.”

However, there were definitely a couple of other students who were doubtful and uncertain. Some were just unsure of the new year’s resolutions they had set for themselves, and some stated that they really hadn’t even thought about it. In the end, this reply was pretty understandable to me, as many of those replies were coming mainly from many teenagers.  The majority of teens are very engaged with academics, extracurriculars, sports, and personal lives- it can be extremely difficult to try to balance it all.  I can grasp the fact that due to all of this, one might not even have time to think about their own new year’s resolutions.  Junior Shayla Shuping replied to my question by saying, “I haven’t really had the time to think about it, so I don’t have one.”

Ultimately, as author Joel Osteen states in his bestselling book, Become a Better You: 7 keys to improving your life every day, “Too many people settle for mediocrity in their thoughts, attitudes, or actions and it’s time to put off those negative mindsets and rise higher.”  In other words, we can always reach for goals that we have set for ourselves, and never allow ourselves to believe that they can’t be achieved.  It’s very important for us to always reach for greatness and never become stagnant within our lives.  In the end, for this new year, let’s take it upon ourselves to change the old adage and create a better one.  Instead of saying, “New year, new me,” let’s say, “New year, better me!” Let us not allow ourselves to become complacent, but rather strive for our goals, and set these resolutions to live up to our full potential as the great Monarchs we are!

Here are the results from the New Year’s Resolution Survey:

1. Bettering myself (habits, attitudes, etc.): 30%
2. I don’t know/ I don’t have any: 27%
3. Staying Focused (school): 22%
4. Taking care of health: 21%