Each New Year, millions of individuals worldwide make resolutions to improve or alter an aspect of their lives. According to Time Magazine, only 8% of people who make New Year’s Resolutions actually follow through with them for the entire year. Why is it that most of us can’t fulfill our resolutions? Is the lack of motivation a result of the overwhelming and all-consuming chaos of day-to-day life, or are individuals simply unwilling to make changes to comfortable routines that create a sense of normalcy? Many people refrain from sticking to their resolutions due to a fear of feeling uncomfortable for a period of time, not realizing that short-term suffering leads to long-term gains. Others may set unreasonable goals that they easily give up on or decide on a resolution without seriously considering why they chose that goal and how it will affect their life. As we enter 2024, Students at Hingham High School appear determined to abide by their resolutions and goals for the new year.
As we approach the end of term two, stress over mid-year exams plagues the school. Many students want to start their academic year off by performing well on their exams. Teddy Lambert, a freshman at Hingham High School, stated, “My goal is to do well on my mid-year exams.” Other students expressed a desire to become better test takers, as for most classes, assessments account for an abundant portion of one’s overall grade. Developing positive studying habits that fit an individual’s learning style, meeting with teachers to ask questions about course work, and learning how to prioritize sleep can all help a student maximize their opportunity of earning a high grade on both regular tests and the exams. Especially for mid-year exams, positive study habits become vital. The majority of students attempt to cram in hours upon hours of studying for exams exclusively the few days before. However, studying in intervals for a week of consecutive days allows the brain to absorb more information and retain it.
Further, numerous students at Hingham High School want to improve their time management skills, as it is extremely difficult with so little time in the day. Maksim Zaitsev, a senior at Hingham High School, expressed, “I want to find the correct balance being a student athlete and learn how to prioritize the most important things in my life. I think just always having a plan would be really beneficial.” Similarly, Genevieve Vale, a senior at Hingham High School, explained, “I feel like sometimes the time consuming workload from school becomes overwhelming and I stress out and procrastinate, so my New Year’s resolution is to not procrastinate.”
Overall, goals would not be goals if they did not require determination and focus to achieve, and resolutions would not be resolutions if they did not require some form of sacrifice for future benefit. While there exists discrepancies in the extremities of goals and resolutions, the main way to achieve them is relatively simple. The difference between achieving a goal and failing depends on the person’s desire to achieve it. It depends on their drive and their eagerness to persevere. Hopefully, all students at Hingham High School will succeed in achieving their goals and keeping to their resolutions in 2024.
