Languages, exercise and selfcare: Lincoln students on their new years resolutions for 2021

It’s that time of year again where we make a solemn vow to ourselves and swear that this time it will last longer than January.

We know you’ve binged the entirety of Bridgerton, desperately wishing to marry one of the Bridgerton brothers, and are fully invested in the latest season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, but what we really want to know is, what are your new year’s resolutions? We asked Lincoln students and honestly, the answers were varied; with a little bit of Covid-19 to spice things up.

We asked Lincoln students on The Tab Lincoln’s Instagram what their New Year resolutions were for this year, even if eight days in someone began selling bandeaus made out of social distancing train signs on Depop, rioters storming the US Capitol building, or Kim and Kanye’s alleged divorce. It’s been a wild ride so far, and I suggest we begin bracing ourselves for even more to come.

Exercise and diet and detox, oh my!

Let the yearly urge to start a health kick ensue. Whether you are bulking up, or slimming down, exercise and healthy eating was one of the most common resolutions we came across. This can go one of two ways: You actually stick to your regime (very rare indeed), or you cook yourself a delicious fry-up the morning after you promised to be healthier (not speaking from personal experience…). Hats off to you if you fit into the former category, seriously, how do you do it? This resolution may be hard enough under normal circumstances – add Covid-19 and a national lockdown into the equation? I’ll be buying all my comfort food in bulk, thanks.

Giving social media the chop

Our generation typically spends a lot of time on social media, and honestly, it can get tiring. You do not want to see my screen time, that’s for sure. One student commented that their new year’s resolution was to “limit my time on social media – I find it quite time wasting looking at other people’s lives.” I couldn’t agree more. It may always seem like the grass is greener on the other side, but the new year brings a great opportunity to focus on you, and not someone’s Instagram that puts your instant coffee to shame with their foam-filled, caramel drizzled latte. Even if that sounds absolutely delicious.

Treat yourself!

In all seriousness, with the chaos that is currently wreaking havoc in our daily lives, the practice of self-care is a great resolution. One student who prefers the term ‘goals’ instead of ‘resolution’ said that she wanted to, “drink more water, look after my skin and always be positive.” So, grab your face masks (not the covid ones, for once), get a glass of water, and relax. Prove your overbearing parents wrong, you can look after yourself!

Work, work, work, work, work, work

Now that we’ve all got Rihanna’s song out of our heads, another popular resolution was to keep on top of work, which in retrospect, makes the previous resolution kind-of tricky. We’ve all felt the shadow of assessments, tests, and coursework looming over our shoulders at some point, and let’s face it, the majority of us didn’t keep on top of it during the Christmas break.

Time to crack the whip, and get typing. Sure, your fingers may hurt at the end of it, but at least your work is all done and you can treat yourself to a glass of Echo Falls…that is until you get handed even more work to do. Make that a bottle of Echo Falls.

Bonjour, 2021!

There’s no need to deny it, we all tried to learn a new skill in the first lockdown that hasn’t quite made an appearance yet. One student said that their resolution was to, “use the French I learnt during lockdown daily”. So, say au revoir to 2020 and bonjour to 2021 as you storm into the new year with your loyal friend Duolingo by your side. Whether it’s French, Spanish, Italian, or even Klingon (just in case you wanted to converse with Spock), don’t let all of your brand new knowledge slip down the drain.

So there you have it, the top student resolutions. It’s safe to say that we can all relate to the stress of staying healthy and keeping on top of work whilst also trying to relax. Not difficult at all.

(Hopefully) Happy New Year!

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