A Hopeful New Year
By Summer Wadleigh
Acknowledging the fact that 2020 has come to a close and the beginning of a new year is upon us seems almost undoable. It’s difficult to admit that so much time has gone by and with that time has been lost. I lost my first day of senior year, my last musical production with my theatre troupe, and my graduation is still among the plethora of things that may or may not happen. The end of 2020 is hard to fathom because with that I am also saying that I have lost things.
Parting with a year that has been associated with so much sadness and loss can be refreshing. It is an opportunity to adapt my goals and plan ahead, to further understand the turn that my own life has taken and to try making it as liveable as I can. I don’t typically participate in new years resolutions because maintaining them doesn’t go past the first couple months of the year, but I’m trying to view the new year as a way of appreciating life even within the current instability.
So with that slight reflection I am going to share my three new year’s resolutions for 2021. I liked the idea of basing this edition around my goals for the next twelve months, especially since having it on a platform that other people can view requires me to hold myself accountable in doing what I say I’m going to.
My first resolution for the new year is to read at least one book every month. As a child reading was my absolute favorite thing to do and my love for buying new books with my grandma seemed to make most other things incomparable. Though as I’ve gotten older and busier, it’s something that I have made little to no time for, which is definitely hypocritical. When I’m not doing school work or writing articles for Around Wellington I often go on my phone for hours. It’s a habit I’ve been trying to break for years and I don’t think that there’s a better way to put an end to my excessive phone usage than to replace it with something that I was once very immersed in.
My second resolution for the new year is to get my first job. This one is actually a failed resolution from the year prior, but I don’t really have the option of pushing this towards the back of my mind. In 2021, I’m moving to Orlando to begin my freshman year of college at the University of Central Florida. While I’m incredibly grateful for having been admitted, my family is not rich by any means. Going to college provides me with the opportunity to begin to really pull my own weight and to not depend entirely on my mom for that sense of financial security. I’m hoping to make this transition easier on someone who has already done so much for me throughout my childhood while also acquiring some new and much needed life skills in the process.
The previous resolution is a smooth segway into my final one, and that is to have a successful first semester of college. Being the last and the most important, I hope that the new year allows me the strength and the persistence to work hard academically. Taking my senior year courses online has unfortunately resulted in the slow decline of my grades due to lack of motivation. Though I am trying to see the new year as an opportunity to change some of my self sabotaging habits that have contributed to this newfound struggle. The idea of college and beginning a rather large transition next year will hopefully give me the drive to see it through. I want to get better at working towards my goals and maintaining the aspirations that I commit myself to.
While my resolutions are rather simple this year, I’m looking forward to the change that each of them will bring. I’m trying to see 2021 as an opportunity to stay consistent in the things that I have been working towards while also pursuing them in better ways. To be more focused, more disciplined, and more involved in the life that I hope to have created for myself within the next year. I am looking forward to have something that is completely mine and to start making it easier on those who have worked so hard for me. I wish all of you nothing but love and good fortune in the new year!