2019 Year in Review and 2020 Resolutions

[Thundawave]

Now that we’re in the new decade, let’s reflect on how last year was and how we can improve this year! Did you complete your resolutions? How will they change this year?

 

[Scherzo]

2019 has been quite the year. I wouldn't go as far as to say I loved it, but this was definitely one of the biggest years of my life.

Spoiler: from the 2018 thread

My goal for 2019 is to just improve everything I can. I'll remain trying to stay healthy, and increasing my semester repertoire programs to as much as I can. I will probably have to end up taking 17 credit hours next semester again, but I know how to handle it now that I've already been through it. I'll also be trying to do many extracurriculars this upcoming year too, including photography and piano festivals.

I went into 2019 with that mindset and honestly kinda forgot about it haha. During 2019 I still managed to do most of those things, minus photography. For credit hours, I actually did 16 but accompanied two choirs on top of my gen ed's and other coursework. My spring semester was a bit iffy, but I made it through. Summer was okay, but a certain part of it was the absolute best time of my life. My fall semester was absolutely crazy and towards the end of it I just felt mentally and physically drained. I did the most amount of accompanying I have ever done before, being assigned 6 soloists + a choir for one of my scholarships. While accompanying does improve my own solo playing a lot, it ended up being too much for me to handle on top of my coursework and other choirs I was accompanying. I asked my professors to assign me less people to accompany during this upcoming spring semester, which will do wonders for my health. (By the way, I am already completely booked for the upcoming semester and it hasn't even started yet!) Hitting a deer and totaling my car wasn't too fun either, but we did manage to get a good deal on another car.

The start of 2019 was also somewhat rocky for me. I was having problems with some friends, but now I have realized who my real friends are and I am better for it! (Also, meeting up with Ben was cool.) The festival I was able to go to in the summer was a phenomenal experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything; mostly everything about it was perfect (besides the price). It was my first time going out of the country and I was able to see so many things, as well as develop meaningful and professional connections along the way. I made a bunch of friends at this festival and even though we live all over the world, we're always planning meetups. :)

Overall, 2020 is going to be focused on improving mental and physical health - and a bunch of practicing how to say "no"! 2018 and 2019 had a lot to do with pleasing other people rather than myself. While pleasing others is good, I neglected my own feelings. I started to realize this towards the middle of the year and it's something I'm working on now. I set a lot of standards for myself in 2019, and I can't wait to improve on them during this upcoming year! (Also, I turn 20 this year, which is crazy.)

Also - My job in 2018 and 2019 has been incredibly unhealthy for me. However, I'm already making most of my income from piano, so I'm excited to see where that takes me!

 

[BasedJarrod]

I think for 2019 I didn’t really have resolutions because I didn’t want to set a bar for something I could commit to. The only 2 things that I really promised myself were to improve my body physically (going to the gym more, eating healthier, etc) and improving myself mentally/emotionally. And I think I definitely accomplished those two things. First off, I gave myself a head start on going to the gym more frequently and increasing my protein intake through the last week or two of December before 2019 started, as well as doing more physical things such as learning how to do a cartwheel, a front senton (wrestle-speak), and various courses that you see on American Ninja Warrior such as the Warped Wall and the Spider Wall. I had huge bursts of commitment at the beginning, middle, and end of the year basically when I wasn’t in school.


And in terms of improving myself mentally/emotionally, I made so many great and wonderful friends that year at school, and I’m still close with my other friends from grade school/1 friend from high school. They helped me be more vulnerable and accepting of different things, and they were incredibly loving, respectful, and mentor-like to me. And I will always hold them in a special place in my heart because I can’t hang out with many of them since they’ve all graduated college in 2019.

I also turned 21 in 2019 (August). I immediately capitalized on it by getting “violently puking” drunk. A few days later I went to the casino for the first (and last) time. Those were great learning experiences as well, as I know I don’t ever wanna get that drunk ever again, and I don’t want to be someone who gets addicted to gambling only to come out with a net loss.

More came my way with school as I headed into the fall semester of 2019, where I was cast in a show, I helped choreograph a small bit of staged fighting for a different show, and I went out on my first date in two years. I even did incredibly well in my fight tests, the best I’ve ever done, getting certified for Smallsword and Knife. I closed out the year with my closest friends, playing all sorts of games.

tl;dr: This was personally my biggest and best year so far, and 2020 is set to only improve on that but also send me out into my career once I graduate college in just 4 months. I really can’t wait!

In 2020, I personally just want to continue on the path I’ve put myself on. I’m cooking for myself now as opposed to just eating out, I’m working out more frequently and increasing the amount of protein and vitamins/nutrients I get so I’m actually legitimately no cap improving my physical health and getting stronger. I’ve just got to really push myself these next four months. Then we’ll go from there lol