Let’s rewind to late December of 2024. The year is coming to a close as we bask in our mid-winter haze before re-entering the grind of school. Winter break has given us a wave to ride the rest of the way to spring, and on the weekend before January, we can’t help but reflect on the shortcomings and victories of 2024. There is a certain motivation that comes from the anticipation of something new, an idea that there is a clean slate ahead of us, a blank canvas on which to work in a way that we can be happy with. And like being faced with a blank canvas, the colors you choose seem to suddenly hold so much more gravity.
With this sense of newness, people all over the world desire to make the new year a testament to their success and growth, to achieve things to be proud of, and even eliminate bad habits from their lives. According to a survey taken by the Pew Research Center, three in ten Americans report making at least one resolution in 2024. Contrary to a common assumption, young people are the most likely of the population to make New Year’s resolutions. This can be seen in the article by the Drive Research Center, where it states, “Nearly half (49%) of adults ages 18 to 29 say they made at least one resolution this year, by far the largest share of any age group. About a third (31%) of those ages 30 to 49 say they made a resolution, while only about a fifth (21%) of adults 50 and older have done so. (New Year’s Resolutions Statistics and Trends [2024])” However, these statistics don’t account for teenagers, and of the students questioned at GHHS, those who made resolutions weren’t plentiful. This, of course, isn’t to say there were none at all.
For student Henry Fournier (9), New Year’s resolutions are a thing of familiarity. “I think they’re really awesome. They’re a really good way to reflect back on the year. Because if you don’t change what happens in your new year, then it’s just gonna be a repeat of last year.” Fournier reflects on the success of his resolutions from past years, referencing a past teacher of his, Mr. Louis, who had a set of rules in his classroom that Fournier resolved to follow. “Show up, shut up, and pull up your pants.” This essentially means being responsible for and valuing the time you dedicate, listening to the people around you and being open to experiencing the world outside of yourself, and being aware of yourself and your actions, knowing how to appropriately behave. “I felt like those were three things that I should really learn to do. So being punctual became very important to me.” Fourier claimed that this was his most effective resolution to date.
Another student made goals for themself to be more disciplined in school. According to this student, “[I] gotta get my study up. Not my funny up.” Wise words if ever there were any. Many people can resonate with the all-too-relatable goal of improving grades and even getting straight A’s, a goal that can feel daunting. According to this student, straight A’s is a prospect that feels achievable to them, especially as they attempt to play less Roblox, and with luck, they’ll be duly rewarded with a cat. Not likely, but never impossible. 2025 is a year that looks upward for more reasons than one, as according to this student, one thing they would not balk at leaving behind in 2024 is the slang. An opinion as mindful as it is demure.
In addition to grades, many students choose to make their resolutions physical, such as improving their athletic skills, running a certain number of miles per week, working hard to meet the desire to be on a varsity team, or dedicating time each day to exercise.
“New year’s resolution” can be used as a somewhat broad term, and “resolution” may not be the right word for the specific goal a student sets for themselves. In some cases, the year can be led by a personal mantra. Abby Philley (12) looks at 2025 as a year to grow and be surprising. Philley claims that her sentiment for 2025 is to “Go for Gasps.” The catchy phrase means a resolve to be less filtered and to instead be more free with your personality and approach to opportunities that may initially be intimidating. Philley describes Go for Gasps as putting herself out there. “I just want to say shocking things, do shocking things, not just be normal,” said Philley. The student invented the phrase herself in conversation with a friend, and on theme with spontaneity, it just came to her. “I think I’m just going to do things that I maybe wouldn’t have done before, or was too scared [to do] before.” Not a goal that eliminates or punishes, but a goal that pushes her to grow—which in itself is a kind of self-discipline. The goal isn’t to not feel uncomfortable but to do the uncomfortable things with intention. Too many people hold back, but in 2025, consider following Philley and ‘Going for Gasps’ in the new year. It’s a year to make yourself proud!
As we welcome in 2025, we welcome in a time of changes for a lot of people anticipating what may be ahead of them. We all have things we want to achieve and things we want to improve on, and while resolutions aren’t necessary to achieve them, the new year is a reminder of what we value and what we want from our lives. Of course, you don’t need to wait until January 1 to change something about your life. Progress isn’t made in a day, and good habits are most often fought for and built incrementally. Don’t let this discourage you. Resolutions aren’t a test of your morality or willpower. For many of our students, 2025 is starting with an ambitious streak. “I would like to get to the gold fleet on the varsity sailing team,” said Henry Fournier. On the GH sailing team, he is currently in the silver fleet, claiming to have dabbled in gold, but never anything official. To secure a place in a gold fleet, he knows he will need to work hard. For him, this looks like attending every practice, working on different muscle groups and maneuvers outside of sailing, and generally dedicating himself to this process. In 2025 the goals of our students range from better grades to smiling more.
The first few weeks of 2025 have come and gone. Back to the Future 2’s 2015 of flying cars and robots walking dogs may have been an overestimation, but it just shows that none of us really know what the future will hold. As we dip into the new year, we look ahead to a year of things we have yet to experience and things we have yet to achieve. Even if the only thing we can do is train ourselves to write the date correctly, we can lean into 2025 and see where it takes us.