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Kate Ulveling

Mrs. Tuttle's New Year's Resolution is....

Think back to this time last year.  Did you have the same friends, hobbies, and aspirations?  Were you the same person?

As the year 2014 comes to a close, New Year’s Resolutions become prominent for a month or two.  Everyone makes a promise to improve their lifestyle consistently throughout the year, and while some pan out, others tend to be reapplied to the next year’s resolutions because they either were not completed or not attempted at all.

Whether it is a goal that would improve one’s overall lifestyle, or a milestone a student or teacher wants to eclipse before the conclusion of 2015, the people at Panther Creek – as expected – are ambitious.

When asked about her New Year’s Resolution, Mrs.  Tuttle shared hers with an exhausted and comical tone.  “My New Year’s Resolution is to go to bed on school nights at a decent time, and not fall asleep on the couch, and then wake up in the middle of the night, and try to finish my homework [grading papers].” She admitted that she didn’t mind that her response was a bit of a run-on sentence.

Senior Navya Pothireddy, when asked, gave a goal to improve her character.  “I want to be more confrontational,” she said.  “It’s part of maturing, and I really want to be a more intimidating person.”  While Navya laughed off the explanation of her answer, her goal to be more confident when talking to her friends and classmates about uncomfortable subjects is very real, and is an admirable goal for 2015.

Along the same line, junior Cassie Zietlow followed Navya’s resolution idea of improving a character trait for 2015, except Zietlow’s seems a little unorthodox.  “I want to be more social,” Zietlow said.  “With high school coming to an end, I don’t want to get caught up in grades and miss the chance to make more memories for the rest of high school.”

Freshmen Victor Minin gave a more conventional answer.  “I want to get better at soccer,” he said.  “I want to be the best I can.” Victor Minin is looking to rejoin the JV Soccer team next year.

Senior Kate Ulveling’s resolution also was a character improvement.  “I want to let the people I love know that I appreciate them,” she said.  “You can never say that enough.”  When asked if her resolution stemmed from events that happened at Panther Creek this past year, she replied that it did not.

Interestingly, the teacher and upperclassmen goals for 2015 went beyond getting better at a sport or improving grades.  They wanted to improve as people, and make themselves more well-rounded.  But no matter how far-fetched or ambitious any goals seem, it’s hard to judge a person based on their New Year’s Resolutions; especially when you may not even recognize yourself in a year’s time.