Patrick Schrappen, chemistry teacher, has set a goal to have a happier, more open attitude toward his students.

“I want to smile and be more appreciative of the students I have,” Schrappen said.  “This year, I’m going to start taking notes in a journal to report how I feel in a day or class.” 

Schrappen established this goal as his New Year’s Resolution. He is a firm believer that a New Year’s resolution is one of the greatest opportunities to evaluate where your life has been so far and where it will go after that point. 

For Schrappen,  a New Year’s resolution means a fresh slate, a reason to set new goals for yourself and a reflection of yourself from the previous year. A time when a person will continue or start to follow a path of being what they want to become. 

Azavin Ivey, sophomore, created his first New Year’s resolution that he is dedicated to accomplish. His goal is to find a job and earn more money. Ivey wants to use the money for a PlayStation 5, which he has been saving up for the past year. 

“Right now, I’ve been taking on side jobs like mowing lawns to earn money. My plan is to get a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. restaurant job,” Ivey said. “This is the first resolution I will be successful at and I know it will be a success because I will be working my hardest to make the most money.”

Sophia Russell, senior, has been working hard to fulfill her New Year’s resolution of always “keeping the door open.”  

“Keeping the door open for me is the idea of keeping the door open for my sister,” Russell said. “In these couple months, I will be leaving away for college and I want to strengthen our relationship before I go away.”

Russell applies this philosophy to her sister as well as other relationships. She is dedicated to keeping an open mindset and keeping her hope for all of her relationships.

“This New Year’s resolution will be successful because I will keep an open mind and not assume my relationships have to look a certain way or go a certain way,” Russell said.

Mark Cao, general pathologist working at SSM Health St. Joseph-St. Charles and SSM Health and Depaul Hospital St. Louis, was working on New Year’s weekend. During the weekend, he advised his coworkers and patients to create a New Year’s resolution. 

Cao said a New Year’s resolution sets a person up for new beginnings and success. He encourages others to create resolutions that will be easier to tackle in small steps, instead of huge, dramatic changes. 

“New Year’s resolution is good for one’s health as it improves motivation and attitude, but it shouldn’t be too drastic,” Dr. Cao said. “In my experience, if my New Year’s resolution is too dramatic, I won’t be motivated to follow it throughout the year. A New Year’s resolution should be a maintainable goal.”

Freshman Principal Kyle Devine set a maintainable goal for 2023 to consume less caffeine and sugar regardless of his “addiction” to caffeine. 

“I’m usually pretty successful in my goals. I’m still following my resolutions from years before as I exercise daily and participate in marathons,” Devine said. “For this New Year’s resolution, I’m going to make my plan successful by going cold turkey. I’m stopping the consumption and not putting anything else in place until my goal is fulfilled.” 

Devine doesn’t create a list of goals or a log, but always keeps it in his head wherever he is at. He said setting goals and New Year’s resolutions is incredibly beneficial to oneself. 

“It’s something I teach my own children about,” Devine said.