I should have written this last week

I sat down to write my New Year’s Resolutions list a few hours before midnight on New Year’s Eve. The dining room had become more and more concentrated with celebration and optimism as the old year moved closer to ending. I immersed myself in introspective questions such as “What kind of person do I wish to be from this point on?” and “What can I do better this year?”

I believe that many students can relate to me when I say that “stop procrastinating” made its way to the very top of my list. We are all well aware that getting our work done and out of the way can help decrease the amount of stress that usually accumulates throughout the week, and yet it can be so arduous to resist watching “just one more” episode on Netflix or to ignore text messages that sing like sirens, drawing us out of our books and into cyberspace.

Ironically, the act of writing New Year’s resolutions, in one respect, may also be considered a form of procrastination. I began to question why I waited until Dec. 31st to set new goals and “start fresh” when, really, I can apply a “New Year’s mentality” during any day of the year, and make it a turning point.

Perhaps, it is the idea of starting over collectively that makes New Years so special. We all can turn the pages of our lives at our own pace, but it is so much more meaningful to imagine that everyone around us is finishing one chapter and beginning another at the same time. There is comfort and power in numbers; so maybe, we are more motivated to achieve our goals if we know that the people around us are attempting to do the same.

As seniors, 2014 is a big year for my classmates and I. It will be an overlap of our high school and college selves, but currently so much of this year and the people we will become by its end is intimidating unknown.

I am hopeful, however, that I will be able to reach the goals I have set for myself, no longer engaging in the art of procrastination being just one of them, and that this year will be full of new, exciting experiences.