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  Students at San Luis Obispo High School are celebrating the start of 2022. With the start of a new year comes new goals for the year ahead. 

  When it comes to goals, there are two types of goals that people can make. These are either unsustainable goals that will fall short or sustainable, measurable, attainable, relevant, time based (S.M.A.R.T) goals. 

  Expressions talked to various students about their goals for the new year and if they thought they were S.M.A.R.T goals or unsustainable.

Expressions: Do you have a goal for the new year? If so, what is it and is it sustainable?

Sophomore Chiara Thomas: I want to take care of myself more by prioritizing myself over others/homework when I need to, and notice when I’m getting stressed to the point of anxiety attack so I can stop it. I think it’ll be sustainable. I often feel pressured to help others, but I do a better job of that when I help myself first. 

Sophomore Aubrey O’Leary: My New Year’s goal is to learn a new instrument. I already play the clarinet and keyboard, and I’ve even tried the trombone. I have always wanted to play percussion and electric guitar. I also write my own song lyrics and have always wanted to put music behind my songs so I can share them with people. I think I can accomplish this if I work hard, I am planning on auditioning for Band’s winter percussion, so hopefully that will help get me started.

Freshman Hayeley Echano: I love drawing and I want to get better at it so my goal for the new year is to keep on drawing to get better over time. I want to be able to draw without any references and get better at specifically drawing bodies. I’ll look at tutorials and make their style into my own to continue growing my art skills. 

  Whether it’s making mental health a priority or implementing more time into being able to draw, every student has a different, unique goal for the new year. Though good, sustainable goals can be intimidating to try to make at first, it would be worth it to make a S.M.A.R.T goal to actually accomplish, rather than just making an unsustainable goal that will crash and burn the minute February rolls around.