Students make and break New Year plans

Set aside the sugary snacks and bring out the scales and smoking patches - it's resolution time once again.

Even before Christmas celebrations ended, some students began to prepare for the new year with fresh motivation to fulfill resolutions for 2009, while others simply prepared to head back to class.

Many OSU students have specific goals in mind and enjoy the idea of beginning a new year with a resolution to achieve. Some involve complete and drastic changes, while others address a few bad habits.

Freshman Kristin Withcher said she plans to start her new year by reinventing herself spiritually, socially and academically. "I just want to out-do the person I was in 2008, because I am my own competition and want to become a better person in 2009."

Tai Cornute, program assistant for the Office of Minority Affairs, who prefers to call his resolutions commitments, said his plans include reading the Bible more often, saving money and applying to grad school.

While these resolutions involve major personal changes, others simply touch on stopping a few bad habits

Makiri Fowler, a senior in English, said he resolves to stop smoking and being negatively influenced by his friends.

Business major Ryan Peoples made his resolution in the realm of academics, hoping to achieve a 4.0 GPA for the upcoming quarter. "It seems kind of impossible because we all know how hard some of these classes are, but if I stop procrastinating and have faith I know it can be achieved," he said.

While some students set their self-imposed bars on life for the upcoming year, others simply chose to roll with the flow and not vow to anything.

Jen Nailos, a graduate student at OSU, didn't make a New Year's resolution this year and doesn't think the majority of people who make resolutions take them seriously.

"I know I never keep them," Nailos said. "So many people make resolutions to get in better shape every year, but by the time midterms come around in February, no one is really thinking about them anymore."

Jenee Cosby, a second-year accounting and finance major, said she believes resolutions are just a fad that people feel obligated to, but really have no intention of carrying out. "When the New Year's hype wears off, people really don't keep their resolutions," she said.

Why resolutions fail

Many of the resolutions made for 2008 can be grouped into categories that have become popular in recent years. The most common include: exercising and nutrition, improving financial situations, and relationships with friends, family or a significant other.

According to reports in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, 40 to 45 percent of adults make one or more resolution each year. However, less than 50 percent of those people make it to the six month mark with their plan still intact.

Jonathan Clancy, an OSU graduate, said people don't keep their resolutions because they make them without creating an adequate plan to carry them out.

"Someone might say, 'I'm going to eat healthier and work out more.' While at the same time, that person won't rid their kitchen of all the junk food they already have, won't reduce their food portions or research healthier options," he said.

Nathan Chunn, who made the resolution to stop procrastinating and get in better shape, said he also realizes why, even though they have good intentions, people's plans don't always last an extended period of time. "People just get to be comfortable with the results, and it only takes one infraction to make people fail," he said.

Brandi Gilbert, a senior in social work, said she believes people don't follow through because they lack the motivation and encouragement to continue their plan.

"I think the newness of possibly achieving a goal wears off," she said. "People lose momentum and, quite honestly, there aren't commercials or forms of advertisements shown as often as they are around New Year's persuading them to set goals. There is just no follow-through."

Others think life simply gets in the way. Sieara Williams said caring for other people, working and going to school can cause some people to forget or lose confidence in fulfilling their New Year's resolution.

"It's like a map." Clancy said. "We see our end destination, but the map doesn't show all the obstacles there may be along the way. Changes to bad habits don't come overnight. It's a gradual process."