As the New Year begins, many people participated in the tradition of making resolutions for the months to come, including some members of the freshman class at Mount Carmel. Here are some of their resolutions for 2021.

I found Jose Maya’s resolution to be inspiring, as it conveys empathy and generosity:

“My  new  year’s  resolution  for  the  year  2021  is  to  be  more  helpful  to  my  parents.  In  the  year 2020,  it  has  been  difficult  for  all.  So  I  want  to  be  able  to  help  them  with  whatever  they  need; just  to  lift  that  stress  they have,  off  of  their  shoulders.”

Bryson Smith’s resolution, “to get closer to God and have a good spiritual bond with him,” suggests a mature focus on the deeper meaning of life.

Phil Glynn’s resolution also shows a lot of maturity and awareness of the needs of our world.

“My new year resolution is to help the environment as much as I can. I think this year specifically has taught us all of how precious our earth is and that we must do better to maintain it. I want to start off simple by doing the easy recycling as much as I can. Planting flowers and also maintaining them. If I can keep that up for a whole year I believe that I would have exceeded what I had wanted to accomplish.”

Many freshmen hope to improve their school work.

Parker Startz and Americo Castaneda both hope “to get A’s,” while Eduardo Perez resolves to  “do better in class, try new sports, volunteer, and get closer with his family.

Joshua Hinojoza states his biggest hope for this year is “to move up to some Excel or Honors classes.”

Other young men are looking forward to becoming better athletes, including Justin White, who hopes he can “become stronger and faster,” and Benjamin Garcia, who  aspires “to get in shape for triathlons.”

Reese McLaren would like to “start on the freshman team,” while Damien Guijosa wants to “get better at football.”

Richard Stringfellow would like to” become more outgoing and make new friends,” while  Efrain Farias is focused on developing greater responsibility and self-reliance as he strives  “to work hard everyday, to put 110% into my school work and into the soccer season (when it comes), and to save $10-$20 once a week.”

These quotes reflect the enthusiasm and idealism of the freshman class.  While they have just begun their journey through high school and have a long way to go, if they keep a good mindset and care to struggle and work at it, like generations before them, they will leave as men of Carmel.