New Year’s Eve is the annual celebration used to commence the switch from one year to another. For the United States, the celebration starts on December 31, the final day of the preceding year, and could go on through the first week of January. It varies person to person, but for most, it ends when they wake up on January 1.

New Year’s resolutions are the same every year. Millions of people strive to be a better person, so they make resolutions and attempt to change the way they act in order to “better”. These resolutions will fail after only a few days of upholding them and one will pretend it never happened.

This year, there has been an increase in people who didn’t make a resolution to follow since they believe they won’t be able to keep it anyway. Only an estimated 8% of the world’s population actually keeps their resolution, but why? Could it be the lack of motivation in today’s society or the belief that since almost everybody else has failed, that they will too?

Some of the most common reasons that people claim they fail their resolutions is because they are either doing it by themselves, they have no support, or they don’t have the resources or motivation to go through with it.

While all these might be true, the biggest issue with keeping resolutions is that the goals that are set are unrealistic, making them unachievable, at least according to a majority of specialists.

Some resolutions may be harder to keep than others depending on the person and their perseverance to truly change. Due to the diverse population in society today, it is hard to try and find a “correct” reason, as to why it is so hard for the common person to keep their resolution.

When Serenity Sterkel, a senior at Alliance High School, was asked why she thinks so many people fail at their New Year’s resolutions, she stated, “I think people fail their resolutions because they don’t think about it as a goal and a goal takes time.”

Sterkel was then asked what her resolution for this year was and she replied, “My New Years resolutions for 2018 is to become a better me, healthier me, and to do it all for myself.”

Losing weight, toning up, or eating healthier takes time, and forces you to make some sacrifices, but she is ready to take on the challenge!

Serenity has been waking up before school to hit the gym and workout with her two teammates, Maycee Quick and Safyre Yearling. While in the gym, they are sure to take to Snapchat and show off their self motivation, while earning the support of their peers.

Sterkel continued, “My tip is to stick with it and always trust the process!”

She and her friends are not the only ones working on themselves this year. The students of AHS have been watching their profanity, being nicer to their peers, working harder at school or work, and eating healthier. Many have failed, as expected, but there has been an increase in people who are still hanging onto their goals, despite the decrease in people who have chose to challenge themselves with a resolution.