2025 is here and ready or not, so is second semester! Traditionally the arrival of a new year is the time that many assess their lives and decide what they want to improve on. Do you set any New Year’s resolutions or goals for yourself? Sophomore Chloe Rudzinski shared her goals. “Yes, [I have a goal], being more organized.” Not everyone is successful in setting goals, however. [I tried] saving my money but I spent it on the snack store,” Sophomore Marcie Meissner said. Your goals may look different depending on what grade you are in, but no matter what, the high school years are great opportunities to grow as a person and develop skills you need in order to be successful academically. When asked about good academic goals for students, Mrs. Barton, freshman counselor stated, “I think academic goals can differ per grade level, I would say Freshmen it’s almost more so about making it through, and sophomore and junior year it becomes about challenging yourself more after you learn what you are capable of freshman year. Seniors is really figuring out what’s after this and how do my academics apply to this now.”

Grade By Grade

For Seniors, this is your final semester of high school! This can be a time of transition and planning for the future. Looking ahead may make it hard to focus on the present and you may be feeling senioritis and lack of motivation. Maybe your goal is simply to finish strong! Juniors have the best of both worlds right now. Soon you will be the leaders on campus, yet the pressure of graduation still feels far away. People may tell you that graduation is closer than you think and it is good to start making a plan for what comes next. Tenth grade is a great year. You have learned the ropes and settled into the high school level of learning by now, which provides a comfort level to find things you can do to prepare for graduation and future success. This is a good time to get involved in extracurricular opportunities to explore your interests and gain leadership experience. As Freshmen, the goal most often is survival and learning how to get established at the school. Building strong study habits, looking for opportunities to get involved and serve the community are good places to start. It is also a good idea to establish relationships with your teachers.

Beyond academics, there are lots of other goals you may set to help improve your quality of life. “I love New Year’s resolutions, I’m honestly not very good at following through with them, but some of mine are more casual like get like 12,000 steps a day, or not sit at my desk all day, and then just spend more time with my family,” said Mrs. Barton. Some other ideas include:

● Making a new friend. You may have lots of acquaintances, and it is always cool when one of your in-class friends becomes your friend outside of class too.
● Finding a part-time job is also a typical goal.
● Simplifying and dropping activities that no longer interest you or takes too much time can also be helpful.

Motivation is typically high in the beginning, but a year is a long time so being intentional, setting clear achievable goals, being able to track your progress, and making use of available resources, can all be ways to help you achieve success. Mrs. Barton shared some tips on ways to stay on track with your goals. “Have someone who can keep you accountable so either you and a friend get a planner or an app or you check it together or even just having parents or guardians keep you accountable. Discipline is a choice and so if you are making a choice to set a goal and accomplish it, you daily have to make the choice, so just reminding yourself when you don’t want to do something, to do it.” If you are considering goals for yourself, it might be helpful to know that there are about 18 weeks left in second semester. Especially if your goals involve changing habits or behaviors, it is important to find a way to make it enjoyable to ensure success.