As we head into 2025, people from all over the world look forward to making New Year’s resolutions. Symbolizing growth and change– these resolutions are an opportunity to continue practices, accomplish personal goals, and improve behavior.
For Junior Devan Forester, carrying over last year’s habits is important. Some would include doing Bible devotionals in the morning, stretching, and singing. Forester’s inspiration for setting and accomplishing goals come from the people around her. The theater student recently starred as Laurie in Cypress High School’s production of Little Women, and said she is, “inspired by all the people I act with and the people that I look up to for their skills.” In 2024, Forester learned that hard work pays off. “I appreciated seeing me be able to do things that when I was younger, I always wanted to do,” she expressed.
Junior Kaylee Valdez’s goals for the new year are to get her grades up and participate in activities that will benefit her in the future. Valdez’s support and inspiration comes from her friends and family. She said, “I don’t have a lot of high expectations from everybody. They just want me to do the best I can do, and people trust the choices that I go through.” Valdez learned a lot from the past year’s experiences, and also from the advice she got. From this, Valdez expressed how she “learned more and more how to carry [her]self mentally, and how to be better as a person.”
Junior Lain Bui’s resolutions for the new year are to be more active in school and to keep in touch with friends. Bui’s inspiration for setting and accomplishing goals is, “Looking around and seeing my friends who seem to be really passionate.” It is hard to stay accountable, and Bui admitted that she does tend to get off track. However, when it does happen, she tries her best to “refocus and resituate.”
Like many others, Sophomore Gabriel Camacho’s resolutions include focusing on mental health. Camacho said, “2025 is the year I want to be more focused on myself, and branch out to set ways to emphasize who I can be.” Social media is a tool that inspires him to accomplish his goals. “Although it can be controversial and sometimes leads to unrealistic mindsets, seeing people my age accomplishing the goals I want pushes me to an extent where I want to keep going.” Camacho is inspired by the videos and posts he sees online, which he plans to continue using to motivate himself. He said, “2024 was a year that taught me it’s okay to feel behind amongst your peers.” Camacho expressed his gratitude for social media and his closest friends, who helped him through the year.
Daphne True, an English teacher at Cypress High School, suggests for her students to have new semester resolutions and habits that they want to enact for this new year. Breaking down work into smaller chunks, and following a more consistent schedule are some of her own resolutions. True competes with herself, which inspires her to set and accomplish goals. She said, “I try not to compare myself to others, but instead look at times that I have felt successful and times I feel not so successful.” To stay accountable for goals, True suggests and is planning on giving herself regular reminders, checking on stress and workload levels, and “addressing the things I need to address in the moment,” True explained. When asked what she learned from 2024, True answered, “Even when it feels like the world is ending, things are going to be okay.”
Making New Year’s resolutions gives us the chance for a fresh start. Universally known about and practiced, goals made in the New Year provide a sense of direction for the future and motivate us to be our best selves. What better time to set a goal than now?
