Here are how local teens are dealing with their resolutions so far:
Namette Vega, 16, Ooltewah High School
Resolved to: Get fit and healthier and to graduate early.
How it's going: She thinks she'll meet her goals since she has good motivation.
Destiny Haines, 15, Lookout Valley High School
Resolved to: Get better grades.
How it's going: She thinks she'll succeed. She said she's been studying more and going after extra credit.
Kandis Bob, 16, Hixson High School
Resolved to: Drink less soda.
How it's going: Not a drop this year, so far.
Kamryn Edwards, 17, Cleveland High School
Resolved to: Eat healthier, more fruits and vegetables.
How it's going: "Not too well." He said he wishes his parents were more cooperative in their grocery purchases.
Coobyrd Jebidiah, 16, Ooltewah High School
Resolved to: Get his license and get a better job.
How it's going: He said he isn't really motivated but that it's "absolutely" important to meet his goals.
Mary Howard, 16, Ooltewah High School
Resolved to: Be able to cope with diabetes (she said she was diagnosed at the end of December).
How it's going: She said she's handling it well, except for one problem. "I need to get over the fear of pricking myself."
Neil Blatchford, 18, Home Life Academy
Resolved to: Be a better brother, to work hard on obeying his mom and to have a lot more fun.
How it's going: He said he was hanging out with his brothers more and is already having a lot of fun. However, "the obeying my mom thing is just going OK," he said.
By Kayla Wilfong
Valley Voices Staff Writer
My New Year's resolutions were to learn rocket science, end world hunger and cure cancer.
Just kidding.
Although those are admirable goals, I'm about as likely to complete them as I am any other trendy resolution. So instead, I didn't make one at all this year.
This is pretty much because I'm lazy, and I think it's a joke to say I'll do something I can reasonably predict I won't do. It's a bad attitude to have toward life, really. If you don't even try, how can you expect to get anything done?
So why am I not taking initiative?
The main reason I didn't make a resolution is because I feel it would be setting myself up for failure. From what I've seen, resolutions like "getting in shape" or "eating healthy" are commonly dropped after a short period of fresh-start motivation.
Another reason is that I don't want to resolve to do something I plan on doing anyway, like "making good grades." That's a goal I already expect myself to accomplish, so I leave it off my list. Those things are too easy, too simple.
Of course, a lot of people do make thoughtful goals. Maybe that's the point, to make an honorable statement about something in your life you'd wish to improve. It is a good idea, but if you don't follow through, it's just empty. I sometimes refrain from making these kinds of resolutions because I'm afraid that the things I say won't come true.
But again, I didn't make fancy New Year's resolutions this year. However, being in the so-called "senior slump" leaves me completely unmotivated. I know I'll wait the entire year to complete a final project for a class. Such long-term goals don't work for me.
So I compensate for not making yearly goals by making weekly ones. Weekly to-do lists are just as effective, if not more so, than long-term goals. They're specific and more obligatory. I easily follow through on these kinds of goals.
It's possible that the only problem with New Year's resolutions is that we give ourselves so much time to fulfill them. We slack, because we think we can procrastinate: "I'll do it tomorrow ... or maybe next week ... etc." Suddenly, it's 52 weeks later.
I don't encourage resolutions. The point behind making them is to fulfill them. Maybe we all need to really think hard about what we want and go after it full force as soon as we find out.
Kayla Wilfong is a student at Middle College High School
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