By Kristen Garza
Staff Writer
New Year’s resolutions are prevalent and CSUB students participated in the tradition. CSUB students share goals of getting in shape and bettering their lives in some way. Many people devote time, energy and money in preparation of these yearly aspirations but few achieve success.
Between Jan. 14 and 16, 2014, I randomly chose 20 students on the CSUB campus and asked them about their New Year’s resolutions. The three most common responses were get fit, strive for better grades and to be a better person.
According to the website StatisticBrain.com the top three New Year’s resolutions for 2014 are lose weight, get organized and spend less, save more. Further, statistics show the percentage of people who usually make a New Year’s resolution is only 45 percent. Within that 45 percent the longevity of resolutions past six months is a mere 46 percent. These statistics put the struggle to succeed into perspective and prove just how difficult it is to make resolutions a priority in life.
There are resources available on campus for students which may be useful in accomplishing resolutions. For example, an important resource for achieving fitness goals is the Student Recreation Center on campus. Utilizing the tutors in the Writing Resource Center and meeting with a counselor is an effort to organize the chaos of being a student, and may in turn lead to better grades and a more successful quarter. Lastly, spending less and saving more money is easier said than done as a student, but would be a healthy habit to adopt sooner rather than later.
For some students, like Shellie Billings, a 30-year-old junior PEAK major, a reevaluation of priorities took precedence as a resolution for 2014.
“This year I’m spending more time with people who want to spend time with me and worrying less about those who don’t,” said Billings.
The overarching question to ask students, with the aforementioned statistical results in mind, is will resolutions now become more of a priority knowing the success rate? Regardless, don’t be discouraged. Remember there are no rules to resolutions and maybe a simple reevaluation is in order. Advice to consider when evaluating resolutions is whether the goals set can be accomplished in the short term. Short term accomplishments may create the confidence needed to power through more ambitious goals.
