The fall 2007 semester has come and gone. It was filled with many term papers and final exams. And who can forget all the studying and preparation we put into the work while trying to cram in our social life on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays?

However we all survived the struggle and will endure another similar semester. With this I propose a resolution, with hopes of solving the problems that come from trying to do too many things at once. This is my New Years resolution and I am happy to pass it on to you.

Give yourself some quiet time. Quiet time can include sitting inside or outside, though I have always preferred walking. I have noticed that in college, people tend to be very opinionated. Though that is not necessarily a bad thing, with everyone talking it becomes difficult to weigh the truths that you, yourself believe in life. For that, we all deserve some quiet time, maybe an hour or so to reflect on what really matters and where we see ourselves in the next couple of years. If last semester proved anything to us, it is that college will fly by. This quiet time that I challenge you all to take on will help us to reveal to ourselves our true goals in life; allowing us to realize why we are here in the first place.

This next proposal may come off as contradictory. However, if we take both values into account we may find the perfect combination. Though I suggest quiet time, I also suggest really listening to all those voices, for you may learn something. In addition, with all this learning we do inside and outside the classroom, it tends to be easy to forget the important values we can uncover. During a quiet time, pull out a notebook or whatever you use to write, and create a personal journal to reflect on what you learned that day. You may use this later on in life and would not want to miss out. Nothing happens by accident.

Reading this, did you make a realization that this quiet time we should take may cut down our stress level? Because when writing this, I did. I would not be surprised to find many people who chose to live healthier as their resolution. Why do we smoke, drink and not eat healthy? Keep in mind that when I mention “we” I do not necessarily mean everyone, rather college students as a whole. There may be many reasons, but a common reason is that we are all very stressed in our college lives. We look for outlets that compensate for relaxing time when we are not book-bound. I don’t know about you, but certain de-stressing outlets have left me even more stressed.

For those who have not fallen into the certain path forementioned, congratulations. But do not think that these resolutions should not apply to you. There is no such thing as an excess amount of peace.

Good Luck!