The Quad: Catching up with UCLA students on their New Year’s Resolutions

It has been more than a month since the night of Dec. 31, when we sat whining about how bad 2016 was and how it led to our lives being in shambles. The only prospect for change seemed to be the approaching new year and our drunken promises of self-improvement in the name of New Year’s resolutions. And as morning dawned, after curing our hangovers, we were instilled with a bout of motivation and high expectations and were all set to work on our lofty goals.

At the start of the quarter we asked fellow Bruins about their New Year’s resolutions and as promised, here’s a follow up to see whether they kept up with them or not.

“So far, I’ve gone to all of my lectures – save one – and all of my discussions! Hoping I got a good grade on my first midterm because I feel like I did. About to take another midterm right now! Studied the whole night! So I’m feeling good and working hard!”

– Brian Cesson, first-year film and television student, whose resolution was to get better grades than the last quarter

“I wanted to spend more time with my family this year but since they are in Pune, India, I have been regularly talking to them on FaceTime. It was especially hard being away from them on my birthday last week but I guess I will manage in the coming weeks.”

– Manan Mehta, first-year pre-business economics student

“I’ve been more actively talking to others about business. I met someone at UC (Santa Barbara) who’s also into business and we’ve been discussing different opportunities and ideas. I’ve been doing better than I thought I would, and I’m still working on getting an internship, but you know, there’s always room for improvement!”

– Jonathan Xu, first-year pre-business economics student, whose resolution was to network more and get an internship

“My resolution was to generally improve myself in all aspects of life and I have been successful in it so far. I believe little actions lead to big achievements and I have been able to work out regularly this quarter just because I determined to.”

– Samir Ahmed, third-year linguistics student

“Yes, I’ve been keeping up with my resolution of advancing my career so far. It’s was challenging at first, but once I began to follow through, it became achievable. I’ve started working as a fellow on a campaign and I’m going to France for a semester to gain experience for graduate school, for which I’m learning French.”

– Insiya Raja, second-year political science and economics student

“I’ve kept up with my resolution by making an extra effort to keep up with people I don’t see every day anymore. My best friend is in New Zealand for five months and we plan times to talk on Skype whenever we can, and I have other friends who have graduated and I’ve been setting aside time to plan visits with them and it has been going well!”

– Jennifer Gethers, fourth-year German and linguistics student, whose resolution was to spend more time with her friends

“I’m keeping up really well with my resolution of going the gym for rehab to strengthen my knee. I go six days a week and take a (day) off on Wednesdays. I’ve come up with a schedule for the time I go to the gym every day and what exercises I would do, so it’s all good!”

– Janavi Patel, first-year biology student

“I have definitely reconnected with old friends and have stayed in touch thus far. I’ve been using UCLA events and activities as opportunities for my friends and I to spend time together, such as competing in IM sports and attending free CEC events on campus. I hope to continue using these events to connect with friends into spring quarter.”

– Cassie Arroyo, fourth-year economics student, whose resolution was to reconnect with old friends

“I was able to keep both my resolutions of eating an apple every day and drinking more water. I guess the key is to pick small goals one can achieve and I achieved mine of staying healthy! I hope to keep this up for the rest of the year too!”

– Eda Gokcebay, first-year pre-business economics student

Human routine is stubborn and trying to change it can lead to many challenges. However, it’s heartening to see UCLA students trying their best to abide by their resolutions, and for the most part, succeeding. Here’s wishing them and everyone else luck with keeping up with new year’s resolutions for the rest of the year.