Congratulations, Gusties. Thanksgiving break is long gone, Christmas in Christ Chapel is over and all that’s left between you and the holidays are a few finals. We’re close. Before you know it you’ll be packing up your three week’s worth of dirty laundry and heading home, to wherever that is. The carpet will feel softer than ever before and the Christmas lights will be extra twinkly.

Beyond the homestyle food and the family Christmas extravaganza comes a different holiday: New Year’s Eve. Though it is celebrated in many different ways, New Year’s Eve is a time of universality for people of all beliefs and backgrounds. Out with the old and in with the new. Are you ready for 2012?

New Year’s Eve is an interesting holiday. If you have a date or plans with friends, it’s is a great excuse to go out. This is basically like every other weekend for you, except slightly fancier and more glamorous. If you for some reason don’t have New Year’s Eve plans, it’s the most depressing night of the year. Going to bed at ten and skipping the ball drop…I’ll make friends next year.

There’s something about the New Year that makes everyone want to flip a switch in their life. It’s the very last day of the year, a time of reflection and rebirth standing as a divider of the old you and a promising future. With the simplest alteration of the numerical year, just a single digit, everyone wants to suddenly become a new and amazing prototype of themselves.

How many years have you promised yourself that you would go to Lund everyday over J-Term as your New Year’s Resolution? And how many times did your plan sputter and die within the first few weeks? These annual desires to enhance ourselves must carry some significance if they continue to haunt us through the years. If we care so much about it, then why do we let ourselves down?

Self-improvement is what New Year’s Resolutions are all about. Drinking less and quitting smoking are common, but tough goals to follow through with. Rolling out of bed on January first and throwing the cigarettes away sounds ideal, but the nicotine flowing through your veins will be just as alluring as it had been 24 hours ago. Drastic changes such as these are less likely to be successful by even the most strong-willed. When temptation waits 25 feet from every doorway, even the best of intentions can falter.

Cutting back on procrastination is another obvious resolution, especially for studious Gusties. Maybe it’s finally time to delete that boring old Facebook account that always finds its way to your desktop at 1:30 in the morning while your research paper awaits unwritten. Or maybe you are looking to step up your game academically and do some damage control on your GPA. These are positive resolutions, but it takes dedication to see results.

Maybe there is baggage in your life holding you back. Environments can be supportive to your resolution, or they can be harmful to your wellbeing. You are what you eat, and you soak up what you’re in. Surrounding yourself with healthy attitudes removes the possibility of being dragged down by emotional soul-sucking, a costly yet avoidable pit-fall. Examine the people in your life. Why do you love the ones you love? Who isn’t carrying their weight?

What else is holding you back from a fabulous 2012? Is it yourself? A lot of us up on the hill experience our fair share of stress throughout the year. Long term, regular stress increases anxiety and chance of illness, not to mention your plummeting happiness. Trying some relaxation methods or scheduling time for yourself is an easy fix to this. Maybe you will aspire to make sleep a priority next semester. Altering your mindset to a realistic and positive state is a simple gesture that can greatly affect your daily life. Making small goals with visible results is the smarter alternative to idealistic dreaming on New Year’s.

So are you ready for 2012?