One year. Twelve months. Fifty-two weeks. Three hundred and sixty-five days.  Then, the cycle starts over again. Like any other new year, students create goals that they want to achieve.

This year, freshman Jessica Davila hopes to be more involved in her community, especially the non-profit organization El Grupo VIDA, a group dedicated to assisting people with disabilities.

“My brother has autism, so my mom was looking for resources in the community that would be able to help him. She found El Grupo VIDA and decided to join the organization. I used to go to their support groups [and help out], and then I became one of the leaders for El Grupo VIDA,” said Davila. “I have been able to advocate for my brother and for other people who have disabilities. I hope more opportunities will present themselves so I can keep advocating for them.” 

When Davila is not preoccupied with advocating for others, she wants to focus on renewing herself for the new year. In 2021, like most students, Davila procrastinated on assignments for school. Even with her homework load increasing, she still wanted to participate in more extracurricular activities, but she soon felt overwhelmed.

“I hope I do not procrastinate like I did last year. I hope that I do not get carried away and do so many things at once and overwhelm myself. This year, I want to be true to myself and know what my priorities are,” said Davila. 

Davila is not the only one who wants to stay true to herself in this upcoming year. Junior Sukaina Juwale shares a similar goal.

“My main New Year’s resolution is to not be so harsh on myself, especially when it comes to schoolwork. At the end of the day, if I know I’m trying my hardest in a class, why should I beat myself up about it? Everybody has their own capability. I think it’s important just to find what you’re good at and not be too hard on yourself just because someone else can do something better than you,” said Juwale.

Along with trying to better herself, Juwale hopes to pass the SAT and ACT with outstanding scores. Since she is a junior, her main focus is to prepare herself to get into a good college. Juwale hopes to become a physician’s assistant and is looking into a nursing school in San Diego that her aunt recommended. Although school takes up most of her time, Juwale also wishes to travel more; she has been to France and China, but she still has more places to check off on her bucket list. 

“I hope I get to travel more this year, because I know we are probably going to be in quarantine soon — I want to travel before that happens. Since I really like the beach, I want to travel to Bora Bora,” said Juwale.  

Traveling is definitely adventurous, but there are other ways for students to find that thrill in life. Junior Kate Wilson wants to live life to the fullest in 2022. 

“I would like to step out of my comfort zone in a social aspect. I’ve made my friends, but I kind of haven’t stepped out of that friend group. So far this year, I have tried a new croissant recipe and picked up roller skating, which has been fun,” said Wilson. Even though Wilson wants to try new things, she wants to dive deeper into her tried-and-true passion: ballet. 

“I would like to start teaching ballet classes to the little ones at my studio. I’m currently shadowing some of my teachers with their classes with the kids. This summer, I would like to teach a class on my own,” said Wilson. She has loved ballet since she was two years old — so much so that she would live to double major in college with ballet and accounting. 

Students’ goals for 2K22 all seem different at first glance, but as you take a deeper look, you will find that the goals all have one thing in common: the hope to become a better version of oneself.

It is never too late to come up with goals that you would like to achieve, as long as you are willing to commit and show up for yourself.