VOLUME 104
ISSUE 09
The Student Movement

Pulse

Goals for the New Year

Katie Davis


Photo by picjumbo.com

As a new year begins, college students find themselves setting various goals or resolutions for themselves. A new year is not only a temporary transition, but also a symbolic fresh beginning. It offers students a chance to reflect on their academic journey and to set meaningful goals for this coming year. As a student, New Year’s resolutions extend beyond personal aspirations to encompass academic pursuits, career ambitions, and holistic personal development. During this pivotal time of a student's life, it is important to navigate the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead by setting goals for oneself. It is also important to have a plan to achieve these goals before you set off on your journey. Here are some goals that some Adventist Colleges Abroad (ACA) students want to achieve this year in Spain. 

Ally Stonas is a Senior at Walla Walla University. She is studying Chemistry and Spanish. Some of her goals include [running] a marathon and [being] consistent with mobility and strength skills. How she plans to go about doing this is by first running a half marathon and then training for a full. Ally wants to be consistent with working out various parts of her body.

Isabel Rodriguez is a Spanish major at Walla Walla University. One of her biggest goals is to be able to speak Spanish fluently. She plans to achieve this by talking to Spanish-speaking people more and focusing on reading, grammar, and writing. Isabel also wants to do 100 push-ups each day for 100 days. She plans on achieving this by planning her day around this and staggering her pushups so that she doesn’t do them all in one sitting. 

Riley Haro is a Nursing student at La Sierra University. One of her biggest goals for this year is to change her major to marketing and public relations. She plans to first talk to the business department at the university and then talk to friends with similar interests and get their opinions about the experiences that they have had with the program. After that, she will update her LinkedIn profile and start looking for a marketing internship. Another goal that Riley has is to read more books. She is not a big reader, but she does have an interest in lifestyle books and memoirs. She plans on finding books that pique her interest. Her last goal is to dress better. Riley plans on looking on Pinterest to get inspiration. She wants to get outside of her comfort zone when it comes to style and that means thrifting more. She wants to realize that when someone thinks her outfit is ugly, it’s actually cool. 

From our own Andrews University, Ariana Hughes (Sophomore, speech pathology major) plans to work out more by walking, going to the gym, playing volleyball, or doing stretches for each day. She also wants to go to bed earlier. Her roommate can help keep her accountable and by getting her homework done before bed–it will help her with procrastination. Ariana also wants to drink more water. Putting reminders on her phone will help her drink more water. 

Another student from Andrews, Jake VanDenburgh (junior, medical laboratory science) aims to be more patient. Before responding to things, he wants to take time to think about them and see them from other perspectives.


The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.