Paige Cross
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“New year, new me” — that seems to be the mantra for the first few days of a new year. You tell yourself, “This is the year.” You’re going to rival Olympic athletes with your impressive exercise habits and blow Martha Stewart out of the water with your high-quality crafts straight from Pinterest.
“I will do 45 minutes of cardio every day for the rest of my life,” you tell yourself. After all, the Rec is just a stone’s throw away.
For some of us, however, after the first week of trying our hardest to follow our resolutions, our determination starts to fade. We begin to realize going to the gym every single day or avoiding the siren’s song of fried foods might not be as possible as we once thought.
As delightful as the honeymoon phase was, you realize it’s just not going to work out between you and your New Year’s resolution.
Cal Poly students share how well they’re sticking with their New Year’s resolutions.
Megan Walters, mechanical engineering senior
Walters said this year she decided to tackle two New Year’s resolutions.
First: Work out more. Second: Be happier in everyday life.
“It’s going pretty good so far; I’ve been able to work out every day,” she said. “As far as being happy goes, I’m pretty happy to be back in SLO.”
Joe Curless, economics junior
Like many Cal Poly students, Curless resolved to exercise more and eat healthier.
“It’s going great,” he said. “I’ve already got my six pack and I’m eating apples and oranges and lemon bars.”
Ria Castaneda, wine and viticulture freshman
Castaneda said she promised herself she’d stop biting her nails, but so far, it’s not going well.
“I have to do something, especially when I’m taking a test and I don’t know the answer,” she said. “And I’m like, ‘Oh, maybe if I bite my nails, I’ll know the answer.'”
Cameron Reeves, journalism sophomore
“My New Year’s resolution is, like a lot of people’s, just work out more, lose weight and also, I want to get better grades in school,” Reeves said. “I also need to start making more money.”
He said he’s been doing “pretty good” with his resolutions, but then added, “Not really, actually.”
Julia Spalding, biological sciences senior
“My resolution was to drink less coffee, but that failed instantly,” Spalding said.
Breanna Boyer, kinesiology junior
Boyer said her resolution was to eat healthier, but that didn’t last long.
“I’m back to canned soup for every meal,” she said.
Elliot Frey, industrial engineering sophomore
Frey said this year, he didn’t even make a resolution.
“If I had to start a New Year’s resolution, it would probably be waking up no later than 9 and going to the gym instead of sleeping in until noon every day,” he said.
Frey said his current habits aren’t even close to his imaginary resolution.
“I’ve already failed that; I’ve been sleeping in as much as I can,” he said. “I can’t wake up and just to go to the gym.”
Adrian Morales, recreation, parks and tourism administration sophomore 
Morales said he aims to go to class on time and wear his contacts more often.
“Contacts are going OK, as you can tell,” he said. “And I’ve been late once, so we’ll see how it goes.”
For Morales, New Year’s resolutions aren’t that big of a deal.
“You don’t really need new years to make big changes,” he said. “I use the beginning of quarters to make big changes, not new years.”
Dara Lawrence, mechanical engineering junior 
Lawrence said she didn’t put that much thought into her New Year’s resolution this year, but she’s trying not to fall behind in her classes right away.
“I’ve made a little bit of progress, but not too much,” she said. “It’s definitely tough to stay on top of your game.”
Jonathan Chadwell, computer engineering freshman
Chadwell said he wants to start taking better notes in his classes this quarter.
“In most of my classes, I’m taking better notes,” he said. “Some of them, not really.”