By: Kailea Mundorf and Hannah Chang

As the New Year begins, people start to imagine what their lives could become — a sign of the future, new ambitions, and new goals. This is what prompts the age-old “New Year’s Resolution,” a way for people to mark the new year, and start it off strong.

Despite the hopeful mindset that guides them, are New Year’s resolutions really all that helpful? Or are they a trigger for anxiety that comes with an urge to meet unrealistic standards?

Mt. Hebron senior Alyssa De Bels, disagrees with this claim and is excited to be able to work on herself.

“My resolution makes me feel good because I want to stop procrastinating but there’s always a thought in the back of my mind about when I’ll stop [being productive],” De Bels said.

New Year’s brings pressure to many because it can be a fresh start for the year. People want to completely change who they are and finally achieve their goals. While this may be positive at first, taking too big of steps usually results in failure. 

“I feel like your resolution can be anything, it doesn’t have to be something huge or life-changing. It’s small steps to make you better,” Rachael Gordon, a senior at Mt. Hebron states.

In addition to taking small steps instead of big ones, De Bels also suggests that people make goals throughout the year, and not just on New Year’s, to relieve the pressure of being perfect and not messing up the “clean slate”. 

The New Year is a time to celebrate the past year, move on from the past, and look forward to new memories. There are 12 months, 365 days, and 8760 hours to accomplish, change, and improve oneself and goals so instead of feeling burdened on New Year, take the first small step and celebrate what is to come.