Halee Reiman has had a compost bin in her apartment for some time, but she noticed that she did not use it as much as she originally planned. In honor of the new year, Reiman decided to change this habit.   

“My resolution is to compost more, because I feel like I produce a lot more waste than I need to,” Reiman, a junior non-fiction writing major, said. “This is the year of sustainability!” 

A week into the new year and at the beginning of the spring semester, students are thinking about new ways to balance and improve their lifestyles. New Year’s resolutions offer people of all backgrounds an opportunity to jumpstart new habits in their personal or professional lives.

“It’s just nice having a fresh slate,” Mia Fischetti, a senior finance and accounting major, said. “It’s nice, at the start of the year, to just kind of have something to look forward to for the rest of the year, something that’s trackable that you can attain.”

The start of a new year is often a point where people reflect on aspects of their daily life that they’d like to adjust or goals they want to work towards. Fischetti said her goal is to read more books. 

“I want to replace my screen time with reading,” Fischetti said. “I feel like I’d rather be looking at a book instead of my phone.”

Finding time to practice healthier habits can pose challenges for students who often have heavy workloads. Divya Narayan, a junior nursing major, plans to find an appropriate balance between her school work and social life.

“In college, I feel like all I do is school,” Narayan said. “I’m trying to develop more hobbies and do stuff outside of just schoolwork or going out, or whatever it might be.”

Narayan said other resolutions she has are to read more during the school year and develop a “good exercise routine.” 

“I just want to have a plan to give me balance and a diversion from school on a daily basis,” Narayan said. “That way I’m consistently doing something good for my mental health.”

Staying consistent in exercise is a common resolution for adults. Reba Cagabrie, a junior psychology major, shares the same 2024 goal as Narayan and hopes to fit more physical activity into her schedule.

“I need to hit the gym,” Cagabrie said. “I said I was gonna be more active, so I should do more cardio.”

Students like Varsha Sagi, a junior psychology and neuroscience major, created resolutions that will make daily life a little more fun. Sagi said she hopes to hone her cooking skills in 2024.

“I want to learn how to cook for fun,” Sagi said. “Making it my resolution gives me a reason to do it.”

Since New Year’s is widely understood as a period of self-improvement, some students like Cameryn Santez, a junior psychology major, feel obligated to create a resolution.

“My New Year’s resolution is to be more classy and cut down on swearing, because I realized I’m too vulgar,” Santez said. “I just needed a resolution, and that’s what I settled with.” 

While New Year’s can give people a gentle push in the direction of self-betterment, for some, it’s an opportunity to develop new hobbies. Julie Meaney, a junior accounting major, hopes to use her digital camera more.

“I want to take more digital photos throughout the semester, just for fun,” Meaney said. “I’m getting ready for summer internships and enjoying my second-to-last spring semester, so I want to remember it.”