Happy New Year! We needed to let the holidays settle and give everyone time to get their bearings this year before tackling a look ahead. Although we often try to get those important resolutions made before January 1, sometimes there’s more clarity after we’ve recovered from the busy holiday season.

But now it’s time to look ahead.

Some of us make resolutions. Fewer of us keep those resolutions. Some of us choose a Word of the Year (WOTY). Some of us hope for the best, and some of us just move ahead – perhaps feeling the optimism of a fresh start or just continuing as usual. How we deal with the close of one year and the opening of another is a very personal choice.

Here at College Parent Central we’ve taken different approaches over the years (and yes, there have been a lot of years by now.) In the past we’ve offered some resolution suggestions for college parents and students. We’ve offered some suggestions for high school parents and students. We’ve thought about what makes a good resolution.  We’ve suggested activities for the new year, people to thank, and even offered a few “one-and-done” resolutions. Two years ago we suggested some options for the WOTY approach. Last year we narrowed that down to suggest a particular word – power. That word is still an apt one and we explained many reasons why in last year’s article. Whether or not you decide to choose a word, we highly recommend going back and reading about power as you and your student look ahead to the new year.

This year, we’re going to continue with the Word of the Year approach because it makes sense. Besides, it’s easier to hang on to a single word than to remember (and live up to) a string of resolutions!

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