By Milo Akerman

Staff Writer

The timeless tradition of New Year’s Resolutions kicked off this year with a different mood. Most people spent a large part of 2020, all the way from March, locked up in their homes with barely anything to do. This had a big toll on some people, although some also decided to use their time productively to improve certain aspects of themselves. Many started learning new languages, took up new hobbies, and even learned to play instruments.

Senior Martina Ibrichimova used this time to work on her mental health and time management skills. College applications were an important task, as seniors had to manage schoolwork, applications, and many other things at the same time. Martina, for example, stopped playing tennis due in part to the pandemic and to the stress that came from college applications. Now that they are over, though, she would like to “get back [to tennis], not playing competitively, but for fun.” 

Ibrichimova has many hobbies in her spare time. She likes listening to music, reading, and meditating. Unfortunately, she’s stopped doing some of these over the last couple of months, although she would like to start again. She says that the root of her problems is her time management, a skill she decided to work on improving during the pandemic.

 “A lot of [my goals] are connected to each other. So it’s 1, being able to improve my time management. 2, being able to have more time for myself, and that would come from improving my time management, and going outside more…Overall it’s really working on myself in terms of my mental health,” Ibrichimova said.

In terms of consistency, Ibrichimova says that she always has a long list of New Year’s Resolutions and she tries to focus just on those she knows she can finish so she does not feel bad if she cannot finish one.