This has been a strange year to say the least, but 2021 is upon us, bringing opportunities for resolutions to make it a better year than the last. Three students shared their thoughts on New Year’s resolutions and what they plan to do in the coming year.

Q: How do you feel about New Year’s Resolutions? Have you made them in the past and stuck with them?

Junior Lia Okammor: “I think New Year’s resolutions are really good because they help you set and accomplish your goals for the year. Personally, I never stick to my New Year’s resolutions. I make them, but I don’t think I’ve ever kept them before.”

Junior Justin Weed: “I don’t really believe in New Year’s resolutions because my goals are set throughout the year instead of at the beginning, which gives me more opportunities to formulate new goals.”

Sophomore Kara Shoven: “I think [New Year’s resolutions] are good, but not everyone goes through with them, so they’re not useful all the time.”

Q: What are your resolutions/goals for 2021?

Okammor: “I want to become a better volleyball player. I want to win nationals next year with my [club volleyball] team and I think we have a good shot at it. I also want a higher class rank by the end of the year and to be more involved in different clubs.”

Weed: “One of my goals for the upcoming year is to break one of the swim records for Hebron High School.”

Shoven: “I don’t really have any, but if I had to make one, I’d say to just keep doing what I’m doing and to not give up on a lot of things.”

Q: Do you think the pandemic will affect your goals next year? If so, how?

Among many of the challenges the pandemic has brought, it has caused a lot of students, especially seniors, to miss out on meaningful moments and chances to reach goals. As we’re entering the new year, students are conscious of the unpredictability of our current circumstances, which may make their goals uncertain.

Okammor: “Probably because [I] don’t know how everything is going to end up happening. People might get quarantined. Anything could happen, so most likely.”

Weed: “The pandemic has affected a lot for the swim team. It’s affected practices, meets and who we compete against, but hopefully in the future the pandemic subsides.”

Shoven: “It really depends on how the pandemic continues, but I would say it probably will.”

Q: If the pandemic were to end next year, what is the first thing you would do or the first place you would go?

Okammor: “My trip to Hawaii got canceled over spring break, so I would take a one-way ticket to Hawaii.”

Weed: “So far, I can go to all the places I choose to go to, but it would be a plus-side to not wear a mask anymore.”

Shoven: “Maybe to a mall or something, just somewhere out with my friends.”