IT Students and Staff Reflect on the Challenges of the Past Year

Illustration by Janae Rudden

By Kyler Jacobson, Staff Writer

Kyler Jacobson

“I did make resolutions, but they take longer to achieve so I have no results yet,” said Amra Isaki, a Communications Junior who was one of the few to admit to making any “resolutions” for the new year. “The New Year gives me an opportunity to change some minor things about myself and become a better person,” she continued. This statement resembles what should be about the New Year, putting yourself in check but not expecting to become a whole new person as that’ll put too much pressure on new beginnings.

The definition of a resolution from the Oxford Languages is “a firm decision to do or not to do something.” The term is very frequently used around this time of year as people believe that with a new year comes new changes and new beginnings. 

I spoke to some students and teachers about if they have any resolutions for 2023, and found that most have caught on to the false ideology around what a resolution is. 

“It means a chance to start fresh. Whatever happened over the last year is done and over, and now it’s time to focus on what’s ahead,” responded Mrs. Ratkowski, an English teacher when asked what the New Year means to her. It’s essential to have the ability to move on from the past while also recognizing the fact that the past will always be a part of your identity, and that seems to be the problem for most in the New Year. 

“It means the date changes and people celebrate how they’re going to fail their resolutions,” stated Janae Rudden, a General Studies Senior. Society loves to run away from its problems and that sentiment doesn’t become any clearer than when a new year rolls around. We find ourselves attempting to solve our problems through fake promises and goals, which end up shining a light on the true issues in our lives. 

It’s no surprise that many want to move on from last year though, as we’re still recovering from a pandemic and being left in quarantine for a year or more with little to no motivation. So some turn to this new year as another form of escape from all of the daily stresses of life and an attempt to “start fresh” when really, they need to continue on their path of recovery from the life-changing experiences of a quarantine of such magnitude. 

When asked how 2022 was compared to previous years, I got mostly negative responses but one from a Med-Sci Senior, Aliah Yusuf, summarizes them well: “2022 was a mixed year: it had its good and bad experiences. My mental health got worse over the year, but other things were much better.” 

For a lot of us, just having the opportunity to live conventionally again when compared to the first two years of the decade, is enough to make the past year better. Still, it didn’t guarantee all of us complete happiness like we may have expected. We live in a generation where we’re being traumatized by so many changes and obstacles that it makes it hard to keep our heads up at the end of the day. 

Still, it’s vital that we as humans know that we can move on from anything if we’re able to acknowledge past obstacles and learn from them. 

With that, my interviewees talked about some lessons that they learned from 2022 that they feel would be important to share with others. “Learn to voice your emotions if you’re not feeling okay about something,” Janae said. “Do what’s best for you and don’t worry about what others think. You don’t owe anyone an explanation for doing what’s best for you,” responded Mrs. Ratkowski. “The only person that can help you is yourself, don’t rely on others,” stated Aliah. 

A lot of these lessons relate to taking care of yourself in the New Year which is important to remember because many of the problems related to resolutions are that we focus too much on trying to meet societal standards rather than actually putting your mental health first.

 

Illustration by Janae Rudden