As 2025 comes to a close, Texas Tech students begin imagining what next year might look like and how they plan to shape themselves along the way. Some hope to break old habits, others want to build new ones, but most recognize the challenge of consistency.
Michael Barlow, a third-year technology major from El Paso, said he typically chooses a resolution for self -benefit, but this year he’s breaking that habit by working towards growing closer with his parents.
“I want to be a better son, and I want to grow closer to my parents,” he said. “There is not going to be consistency in it, because as a whole, we’re imperfect and we’re busy, but I would like to feel like I could run to them if I needed any advice or support.”
Kaleb Macias, a first-year architecture major from El Paso, is aiming to take more control over his schedule, saying next year’s goal is academics over relationships.
“My resolution this year is to not procrastinate,” Macias said. “I failed my resolution last year because I found other things to do in order to have more fun. I didn’t wanna do work most of the time.”
Rather than finding a new resolution, Emerson Kambarn, a first-year journalism major from Arlington, said she hopes to restart her old habit of focusing on health and routine-building.
“My New Year’s resolution is to go to the gym more. I started going at the beginning of college, took a three week break, so now I’m hoping to get back on that,” she said. “To stay consistent, I plan to make sure I have friends to go with and we build it into our schedule.”
Kambarn tried to be consistent in maintaining past goals, but said life seems to find a way to be an obstacle.
“One of my past resolutions was to try to talk to my parents every single day,” Kambarn said. “That never happened because my life got too busy.”
Similarly, Barlow said he relates to the difficulty of maintaining resolutions because he sometimes makes goals that are either impractical or unrealistic.
“I have set a New Year’s resolution to run every single day of the year,” he said. “Specifically for 2020, for whatever reason, I decided that I was gonna run every single day. That’s so unrealistic. I think I kind of shoot for the stars.”
Yet, for Kambarn, even when resolutions don’t work out, they can still have a positive impact on the year by providing goals and something to look forward to.
“New Year’s resolutions are important because it’s a way to look back on the year and see what parts you want to better for yourself and it gives you something positive to focus on,” she said.
For Barlow, he said he has struggled with completing resolutions because it can prove difficult to figure out what motivates him personally.
“Everyone learns differently, but I think most people are too young to know what works for them,” Barlow said. “ … Some people say a New Year’s resolution one time and then forget, but if you remind yourself every single day, it’s less likely.”
Kambarn said she believes the best approach is narrowing things down and being realistic based on where someone is at.
“Just try to be more consistent and pick one thing you really struggle with and go full-force on that thing,” she said. “Don’t make a giant list of them. Just focus on one thing at a time.”