With March quickly approaching many reflect on the resolutions they made at the beginning of the year. Whether it be a specific goal like achieving the long-desired A+ in AP Modern World History, or a more-generic focus on mental health, the fresh start effect can be a great way to meet goals. As many of us have experienced, however, a fresh start will only get you so far. Some Barstow students who have managed to keep up with their resolutions have some advice for the rest of us.
Barstow students have set a wide variety of goals, dealing with the mind, body, character model of the school.
Like many students and teachers, Helton Walker ‘24 set a goal of reading more. She explains, “I want to read more books outside of school.” Walker plans to make this task manageable by breaking it up, saying, “I am trying to read around 20 pages before I go to bed.”
Similar to Walker, James Knoflicek ‘24 and Ava Adams-Huang ‘25 also have more big-picture resolutions. His initial resolution was “to eat healthier and stay in shape,” and Adams-Huang’s goal is “to make it to 2025,” (a good goal, in my opinion).
Those aiming to achieve specific goals benefit from regular progress check-ups. Walker reflects on her initial goals, giving advice and explaining that it is proceeding exceptionally, due to the work she put into achieving them. “To keep up with my New Year’s resolutions, I got a new daily planner and made specific time in my schedule to clean my room and read.”
Along with Walker, Adams-Huang and Knoflicek also follow B-Line’s advice by setting smaller, more achievable goals to reach the overarching one. Knoflicek is achieving his goal by “limiting the number of times I get fast food, eating a more balanced diet, and drinking more water.” Adams-Huang also has crafted smaller goals, consisting of “tak[ing] Zoloft.” Managing one’s medications can certainly be a tall task, but Adams-Huang has stayed consistent this year.
Just like Walker, we can all add smaller goals to make our overarching resolution more achievable. Along with her goal of reading, she also wanted to practice her hobbies more, and those larger goals included smaller ones like “setting timers on certain apps on my phone to discourage me from using them.” This is advice that all students, teachers, and community members can use, as we all certainly struggle with putting our resolutions into practice.
Overall, these three students are all pursuing their resolutions due to a couple of key components: they have larger goals to achieve and have certain ways to remember or enforce the goals. In the end, the only way to achieve the goals you set is to have ways to enforce them, whether it be setting screen time or another useful method.
