California by Kevin

California by Kevin - January 2016 Scholarship Essay

2016 just started, which means that everyone’s new year's resolutions are now in motion. The Gym’s are now packed and everyone is going on a diet. Some are now even trying to read more or learn a new instrument. Overall, people are just attempting to become better. So yes, I do respect those who have made these resolutions, but I have never really been one to set new year's resolutions.
The reason for this being that everyone is expected to believe that only on the 1st Janurary do we have the ability to become better. Yet, there is nothing that really changes from the 31st to the 1st. Everyone is more or less the same person, with the exception of a changed mindset. Yes, this in turn helps people make a change in their life, but also makes them wait a whole year before doing so. So instead of making a change anytime of the year, people usually wait until new years comes along.
As for my “New Year's resolution” or just simply a goal, I am working on learning more everyday. More specifically I am working on learning a new word every day while on break. So every morning, I wake up and flip through a dictionary and repeat a word to myself along with the definition. My goal is to learn 20 new words before I return back to school.
In addition to this, I am also focusing on reading anything I can get my hands on everyday. So whether that be a newspaper, an article on line, or just a magazine, I am trying to push to read faster each day without skimming. Two hours is the baseline each day for which I am aiming to read. So although I am against the New Years resoultion trend, I completely support becoming a better person.
Which brings me to my next point which why I would even bother doing this during my break. Well, the brain is like a muscle and the more I use it, the more I can improve. I’m working on improving the total amount of vocabulary at my disposal. The reason for this being that the more ways one can describe something, the more that person can explore ideas that others regularly over look. As for the two hours of reading a day, this will help me to acquire information much quicker without as much fatigue.
Although my current train of thought on this topic may seem somewhat bleak to most, I have learned to enjoy it. Without this present speculation that I have on New Year's resolutions, I would have otherwise been focused on my diet such as many others. Yet since I have already incorporated this “diet” into my lifestyle, I have much more time to focus on things that are often overlooked. Lastly, I have learned to enjoy the pain that must be endured through a challenge, which I believe many people underestimate the importance of towards becoming a better individual.