It’s that time of year again. The beginning, I mean.
Some people are determined to become a completely new and improved person in 2025. Others still feel like 2024 has just begun.
This past January (basically yesterday) I asked a number of FWCD Upper School students if they had made any New Year’s Resolutions.
In 2024 I, foolishly, made a 5-page long list of resolutions, a list which I seem to have misplaced sometime during January or February or one of the many other months. It’s really impossible to say.
I stuck to some of my resolutions, like my intent to make my bed consistently, run more often, and spend more time with my bunnies.
Other resolutions, not so much.
But, to make myself feel better (or worse–I’m not really sure), I decided to follow-through with my earlier story about FWCD students’ resolutions just like I hope that they followed through with said resolutions.
So, here are the goals that 12 Falcons made earlier this year and whether or not they maintained them.
“My resolution is to convince my parents to obtain a household pet,” Sam Saade ’26 said.
Sam got a lovely dog named Marshmallow.
“I am drinking more water,” Mazzy Mikolajunas ’26 said.
“I did so good,” Mikolajunas said, in reflection.
“I want to do a flip,” Cal Neubauer ’26 said.
Cal cannot currently do a flip, but he still has 2025.
“[My New Year’s Resolution] is to spend less money at the campus store,” Eleanor Holm ’26 said.
Holm strongly believes that she followed through with this resolution and spent much less money but acknowledges that she does occasionally visit the campus store.
“My New Year’s Resolutions are to yell at people for leaving stuff in my car and to go to bed earlier,” Catherine Hart ’26 said.
Catherine believes that she properly reprimanded people for leaving things in her car, and she kept her car nice and clean in 2024. She regrets not getting any sleep in 2024 but plans to get more in 2025.
“My New Year’s Resolution is to read more than I did last year,” Maya Marques ’26 said.
Maya says that she has read more, and she met her reading goal of 20 books.
“I want to clean my room more and not flake out on things,” Courtney Comeaux ’26 said.
Courtney would say that she has followed through with both of these resolutions.
“My New Year’s Resolution is to continue my year-long streak of not getting a detention,” Dylan Short ’26 said.
Dylan has not gotten a detention this entire year.
“I want to be able to say the alphabet backward in under 5 seconds,” Cannon Black ’26 said.
Unfortunately, Cannon cannot yet complete this feat, but he still has 2025.
“Do more looksmaxxing,” Paxtyn McPeak ’26 said.
“I failed,” McPeak solemnly said.
“I’m going to try to stop being so great all the time so other people can have a chance,” Canaan Factor ’26 said. “And maybe be less funny so I don’t keep making people laugh. I would like to have some more me-time. Be more wavy, get my money up, more emotion, more diamonds, more chains.”
“It was definitely completed,” Factor said, “my new resolution is to make sure GiGi gets 100 on all of her assignments.”
“My New Year’s Resolution is to do amazingly in Bob Booth’s class and to nail stoichiometry. I would also like to not crash my car,” Sophia Jiang ’26 said.
Sophia does not believe that she “nailed” stoichiometry. However, she has not crashed her car, and she believes that she “somewhat cooked” in Booth’s class.
Well, there it is, folks.
It’s hard to believe that 2024 has come to a close, and even though I feel a slight pang of sadness that the year is now over, I am really, REALLY relieved to be halfway done with junior year.
On another note, as we embrace the most wonderful time of the year, make sure that you don’t get so focused on studying for APUSH or BC Calc or whatever test you are cramming for that you forget to remember how much we have to be grateful for.
I recently mentioned to my friend how it was the season to give thanks, to which she replied, “no, that was November.” Such a subtle comment but one that reminded me how gratitude should not be a seasonal practice, but an evergreen one (get it? because Christmas tree…).
So as we enter 2025, if you find yourself in need of New Years’ resolution ideas, consider making regular gratitude practice one of them. Or just decide to sleep more and drink more water; it’s up to you.
