This year, my goals have expanded greater than I could have ever imagined. I have never really believed in New Years resolutions as I never held any expectations for myself, other than school, and I was exceeding them already. This year, I plan on working on myself and becoming the best I can be.

I plan to be more involved in my school such as volunteering, more interaction with my teachers, and attempting to join a sport or club where I can become proactive and gain benefits for college. I want to have a background that is able to demonstrate to colleges that I’m unique and a hard working student.

I want to learn more about French culture, as I am taking a French class, and plan to for the remainder of high school. I want to travel to Montréal again, but have a richer experience by talking to locals. Which would mean I would also have to work with enough self confidence in myself to speak to strangers to create these experiences for myself. 

Another goal of mine is to become more active, trying to rekindle my passion for soccer since covid and making exercising become a regulated part of my life. I want to take advantage of this stage in my life as a teen to search for and identify my hobbies and passions. 

A goal I’ve had for a long time was to figure out what clothing and makeup suits me as a 5’7 blasian midsize girl. I have always cared about my looks, however there have always been restrictions on what I could do about it—modest clothing, no extreme hair dying, no piercings other than ear piercings, no hair cutting, no make up other than just mascara and lip gloss, sleeves on every top I own, and no skin fit clothing. This year I plan to make something work so I can be happy with any outfit I wear and not feel any way except confident. 

One last goal of mine this year is to become more open. Last year I managed to make way more friends than I thought I could ever have. I know if I want that to happen again, I have to make the effort to talk more. It’s difficult when you don’t exactly remember how to after sticking with the same crowd for so long. I plan to get past this obstacle this year, maybe for the first time gain a close friend who isn’t a girl—even though that is unlikely because of my nervousness, but it still remains a goal.

I want to be the best version of myself before I turn 16 this year, so I have the best memories to look back on as I’m older. To me that means eating right, working out, living life to its fullest while still setting boundaries, talking to more people, and enjoying my years as a teenager.