It’s only week two of the semester, but it feels like we’ve been back for two months (please hurry up, spring break). I started the year with a bunch of New Year's resolutions in the name of self-improvement, but somehow it’s already February and life has just seemed to… flyby. However, I’m still trying to hold out for a few more weeks and see if I can make it to spring break with a few of these New Year’s resolutions (despite how delusional they may seem).

Eat HUDS more. You tell yourself, gone are the days of eating out multiple times a week. I know you have a TikTok list with about 100 different food places to try—but you decide that HUDS will become your bestie! You’ll eat breakfast every day, savor the delicious lunchtime cookies, and use your creativity at the salad bar. Right, right…. It doesn’t take long to realize how the food quality here is not exactly in line with the amount of money that we supposedly have, and you decide you’d be better off just drinking Diet Coke and eating Buldak ramen in your dorm.

Spend less money. The temptation hits every weekend to get a cute lil’ strawberry matcha and trek to Newbury Street to “window” shop. Brandy Melville! Urban Outfitters! Glossier! But you decide that those trips will really be for the journey and limit yourself to a HUDS to-go cup of coffee while you’re standing outside UNIQLO.

But you’re young, and the money will come back, especially with that fancy consulting gig, right? That’s what I came here to sell out for!

Find an internship. I know you have that color-coded spreadsheet with all the internships of your dreams. However, you soon are faced with the reality that you’re competing with IOP kids who have been living, breathing, and dreaming politics since the womb, and you decide that maybe you won’t be seeing them in Washington, DC, after all. Something about humidity and unmatched ambition isn’t exactly a great match for a perfect summer.

Earn Sidechat Fame. I fear this has been a personal goal of mine. To somehow have a hit post that will give me infinite aura on Sidechat, skyrocketing to the top of the leaderboard. But let’s be clear, it’s probably for the best that I never hit that milestone. The one week I deleted Sidechat during winter break was like heaven… only to come back to see twenty posts about consulting.

Try the Other Places in the Square. See, you tell yourself that you’ll experiment with local food places and maybe even leave Harvard Square! But you and I both know that you’ll get bogged down by procrastination and random stress, and that 2 AM El Jefe’s bowl will taste like salvation yet again. Achilitos will have to wait. It’s okay, we listen and don’t judge.

I know that I myself will fail at these resolutions this spring. But it’s okay, you only live once. That’s what I try to tell myself anyway, as I blow all of my money on Newbury, Trader Joe’s snacks, and Jefe’s — all without an internship in sight ;)