New Start to People's Lives

By Makenyze O'Dell

On New Year’s Eve, when the clock hits 12:00, everyone says “New year new me,” or “New year, different outcomes.” With a new year, people like to start over and be a different person even though their plan of change may not work for the whole year. For myself, I’m focusing on becoming closer to God, but for others it could be standing up for themselves and not letting others walk over them.

Different people want different things in life, and when it becomes a new year, people believe this is the year to change their lifestyle. It is the time of year to saying goodbye to old habits that we can change and start a new path. Which is all very true and capable of happening, but you have to keep yourself in check and make sure to follow through with this plan. This is also where New Year resolutions come in and people make a list of things they are wanting to complete. Others like myself just have one thing that they know can be done and make that their New Year’s resolution. If you come up with a New Year’s resolution that you enjoy and believe can be done, more than likely you will accomplish it. 

People like to hope for the best going forward into the new year. For example, a lot of people eat 12 grapes once the clock hits 12 because they want that new love to come into their life. 

A close friend of mine, Betsy Robert says, “New resolutions can be a fresh start for a lot of people! It’s like hitting a reset button to work on better habits or learn new things and get closer to people and things. So exciting and very excited for the new year!” I couldn’t agree more with this, because with the new year, there are so many things to look forward to. 

           As the class of 2024 is graduating this year, they have a lot to look forward to as well. Emily Franklin, a senior at Bowling Green High School, said, “College is going to be a good and easy transition, that it will be easy to make new friends and figuring out where everything is at. As this school year comes to an end I'm hoping there will still be fun things happening, and leaving Bowling Green won’t be too hard on myself since I'm leaving my friends and family.” 

This year means a lot to the ones graduating, because they are leaving and finally starting their lives outside of high school and possibly their hometown. Some get to travel the world and see things they haven’t seen before and others are going to school to become what they’ve always wanted to be. With that being said, it’s also going to be a hard year with leaving their loved ones behind depending on where they’re going to start their new beginnings. 

A senior at Bowling Green High School, Cristofer Lara talks about how he views the new year and how it affects people. 

“The new year affects people in many different ways. For some it’s often a time of higher stress levels associated with buying gifts, making big dinner plans, and attending parties. For me, though, it’s moreso a time of reflection of the goals I set upon myself in the previous year. I often ask myself, ‘did I reach these goals I set on myself,’ and what do I need to do to improve and start fresh to more so stride for the goals that I didn’t meet in the previous year,” he said 

There are people who follow through with their New Year’s resolutions and plan on meeting their goals that they didn’t or forgot to do last year. However, reflecting on how you could have done things differently the year before or how you’ve grown as a person can help set new goals to accomplish this year. Another bright side of reflecting is that if you were getting amazing grades, that’s something to be proud of, because that’s a hard thing to do in high school and even middle school. That’s just one good way reflection can build confidence in people.

 Adrian Rivas a close friend of mine says, “I think that a person can have a new start if something changes within their life. Like meeting new people, finding new hobbies, new activities, and etc. It also depends on the person's determination on having a new start. If you have no determination in sticking with a different life, then the plans are going to fall through. All in all, I believe that a new year doesn’t mean a new start, but there can be moments and events that do make a person want to change their life and do better.” 

This is very true, because you don’t need a holiday or a new year to finally make a change in your life, but it does give that push some people may need. There are many things that a new year can bring into your life as Adrian said. Meeting new people and building relationships can bring good things, or it can be a lesson. You never know what may happen in this new year, but know that whatever happens will just become a memory to make and the start of 2024.