It’s January, which means gym memberships are spiking, blogs that will be abandoned in a few months are being updated and people are organizing their offices, apartments and lives. New Year’s resolutions are a way of entering a calendar year with renewed hope and a clean slate. On the other hand, there are those who feel that resolutions are unnecessary or impossible to follow through on. Here’s what Fordham Lincoln Center students had to say about their resolutions, or lack thereof.

Quality Over Quantity

Erika Ortiz, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’18, has never made a New Year’s resolution. “I think New Year’s resolutions are good for quantifiable goals or improvements. If there’s something specific you want to get done or something where you can measure your success then go for it, but it’s better for me to just have a continuing want to improve things in my life that can’t really be counted or measured.”

Always Room For Improvement

Sarah Grace Houston, FCLC ’20, is constantly organizing her life, and uses the new year as a way to further motivate herself. “Last year I did ‘17 in ’17’ resolutions, ” Houston said. This year, she is going for 18. Her list starts off small, but she will add to it as the year continues. “This year, a big one is no more self-deprecating humour, because I realized I did a lot of that, and that made me not feel great. I’m also learning a new language, I’m teaching myself German. My other one is to trust the universe, because I get too anxious about a lot of things. I also want to read at least 52 books this year, and push for 60. So far I’m up to four.” How does she stay on task? Houston said, “I keep check boxes in my planner for each day I want to do something, and I try to keep my list in mind when relevant situations come up.”

Small Changes

Steph Lawlor, FCLC ’20, said she is hoping it will be a positive year. “My resolution this year is not to say ‘like’ as much, and I also want to be a more optimistic person because it’s gonna be a year of change.” Has she had resolutions in the past? “Yes!” Lawlor said. “Have I done them? No.” So how will she carry this one through? “I think I will be able to carry this one through because each year I’ve grown as a person and so now I can use that growth to persevere.”

A Simple Resolution For A Simpler Life

Lydia Culp, FCLC ’19, said she did not originally make a New Year’s resolution for this year. “I thought about doing one, and then New Year’s passed, but after arriving back at school I realized I have too many clothes and too much stuff, and I think that my New Year’s resolution will be to consume less, mostly purchase fewer things and give stuff away … Be more honest with myself about what I really need.” On top of that, Culp said, “I also want to be more focused this semester and really think in minutes instead of hours so that I make each moment count and make use of every second!”

Not For Everyone

Jamie Haas, FCLC ’20, said she does not have a New Year’s resolution for 2018. “I feel like I’ve done them in the past, and I feel like New Year’s resolutions are generally big changes and ultimately I can’t do them all at once, so no, no New Year’s resolutions for me.”

A Positive Focus

Becca Light, FCLC ’20, said she feels like she has already changed a lot as a person this year. “I don’t know if I have a resolution, per se, but I just spent the past two weeks in Mexico and I think I learned a lot about being really grateful for where I am in the world, and having optimism in the face of a lot of challenges.” She wants to make an effort to hold on to what she learned in Mexico. “I think that gratitude for what I have and optimism in my day-to-day life are things that I want to incorporate more into 2018.”