There are lots of New Year resolutions that many people break within half of a year, or less. If the resolutions work for you, great! You can find something that you want to work on for school: better grades, for example. How would you accomplish this? Would it be developing more effective studying habits, getting additional help from a tutor, your teacher, or a classmate to help you understand the material better? If it’s due to lack of time, scheduling your time wisely can help. You can create blocks of time that cannot be moved: school, sleep and work. Those are the things that you must do- after that, you can maneuver your schedule to make other things fit. Make sure to keep some breaks for yourself after finishing the day’s must-do’s- you deserve it!

You don’t have to make resolutions if you don’t want to, of course. Instead, you can choose instead to bring in the New Year doing something positive in your student life. Things can always be turned around for your grades which are very important for senior year, but what happens if you’ve had a really lousy year?

It can happen. Today is a brand new day.

You can turn things around if you want to, and if you try hard enough. You can focus on your grades if that’s a weak spot. You can focus on doing something you want to do, whether that means your grades, your confidence (a new haircut, maybe?), volunteering (this can help with university and college, but also future job prospects), or even a new team sport (soccer, lacrosse?). This is all progressive thinking: new ideas can help you think creatively in both your academic and personal lives.

When it comes to bringing in the New Year positively and progressively, you are looking to help yourself first. You want to be the best person you can be. Don’t compare yourself to others, because we all have our strengths and weak spots. Look for ways to improve. Look for ways that will help you develop your future: volunteering, getting better grades or expanding your knowledge and range of experiences with something not taught in your school.

Making new friends is another possibility. It’s intimidating to consider that when you’ve grown up with same group of people, but think of it this way: it’s a new chance to make a new friend, and you may have a lot in common. It could be someone new who can help you have a great year!