Student Blog: 2024 Resolutions

Hi readers! I’m currently coming to you from Walt Disney World in Florida where I’m ringing in the New Year. I am excited for 2024 and all of the accomplishments I hope to make during this year. As a college student, often I'm thinking about the overwhelming amount of goals I have for my life, career, academics, hobbies, etc. As per New Year tradition, I’ve compiled a list of possible New Year's resolutions my fellow college students and theatre majors may want to think about before tackling 2024. Not all of these resolutions are personal to me, some are supposed to be suggestions for people who are in my shoes and looking for goals to set this year; My resolutions are usually BIG goals that take time to achieve but I think it’s also good to find small things you can start adding to your daily routine immediately as the new year rolls around:

Fitness Journey

This is something that’s definitely on my resolutions list for 2024 but not for the reasons you might think. Of course, everyone wants to look good but working out has always been something I could never stay consistent with because I think I was in it for the wrong reasons, at least the wrong reasons for me. My new goal this year with exercising is to focus on getting stronger and strengthening my body instead of just how the exercises will make my body look. If anyone is in a rut with their exercise routines, maybe changing their mindset like this could help them accomplish the same exercises but with more purpose. 

Picking up a new hobby

This could be a small or big goal depending on how you look at it. For me, I'm leaning towards trying to incorporate more reading into my life which I think is a relatively small goal. Some people’s new hobbies may be more time and energy-consuming such as taking up something like kickboxing which is valid too. However, my existing hobbies are time-consuming enough already so something small like reading a little before bed at night is a good fit for me despite maybe not being as impactful for others (find what works for you)!

More or less screen time?

I think most people would say that they are on their phones too often. I’ve been doing a little better with this recently but I still could stand to get off my phone more. I remember my 10th grade English teacher had us experiment with goal-setting in class and most of the class selected their goal to be getting off of their phones when needed. Her tactic was to get us to not use our phones after a certain hour (like 6:00 p.m.) until the next day for about three days. After the three days, we shared in class how we felt after not depending on our phones as much as normal and almost everyone was glad they did it. Personally, I’m not going to repeat this pattern for my resolution this year but maybe it’ll help some of you with yours! Even though many may want less screen time on their phones this year, I kind of have the opposite goal on my resolutions list because I’m looking to watch more movies this year. I love movies but I’m not extremely adventurous with my movie choices, haven’t seen a lot of classics, and watch the same films repeatedly. That’s why this year I’m interested in expanding my movie knowledge which means a little more screen time for me but on the TV instead. 

See more live theatre!

This resolution is a little more specific to my theatre majors and theatre lovers out there. I am lucky enough to have easy access to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows in NYC while at school but I'm striving to become more adventurous with my time at the theatre and choices of shows to see this year. I want to expand my theatre knowledge and stop going for the same kinds of shows I always see when buying tickets. I am super into the song and dance type shows but I think it's important for me to see different kinds of art more often. I really want to see more straight plays this year and support my local theatres when I'm home. I finally got to see Some Like It Hot at the end of this year which was amazing so hopefully that mojo will transfer into 2024 for me. If you've been tempted to see a show but worried that it'll be out of your comfort zone or typical range of enjoyment, get out there and see it this year! We'll be more adventurous together. 

Job

I think many college students can relate but I’m looking to find a good summer job this year (either theatre-related or not theatre-related). I’m trying to scope out my options now so I have just enough notice to prepare. If you need a summer job, I suggest starting to look at your options now and find out your application requirements. The list of possible jobs in my notes app has already started ;)

Fashion

One of my resolutions this year is to elevate my fashion game. This is a little specific to me but my goal is to buy less clothing in total but more items that can be used for multiple occasions (e.g. good basics, jackets to go over things, a reliable pair of sneakers, etc.). I’ve always wanted to change my style but never actually made an effort to do it so that’s one of my many goals this year. Trying to work smarter, not harder if you know what I’m saying. 

Well, that’s all I’ve got this time around! Thank you for reading and Happy 2024!