By: Sylvia Simioni/Staff Writer
sylvia.simioni@fiusm.com
“I want to lose 10 pounds. I want to get straight A’s this semester. I need to edit that Timeline feature and stop Facebook from ruining my life.”
New Year’s resolutions are the most consistent, short-lived fad in recorded history, dating back as far as the ancient Babylonians renewing their annual vows to return borrowed items and pay off debt.
Even so, absolving oneself of financial woe is not the only incentive prompting University students to make a fresh start in 2012.
“I think the last decade has showed us the importance of the online persona,” said Bianca Calimano, a senior English literature major. “Some people scram at the beginning of the year and deactivate their Facebook profiles, only to find themselves succumbing to the ol’ blue and white monster within a week.”
A lighter tone follows students who wish not to make such a brazen move with their Internet lives.
Janine Toledo, a junior education major, remarked: “I want to polish my profile this year — and stop uploading photos of what I thought, drunkenly at the time, were too funny to pass up online.”
“There are times when I want to get off the computer and lose my iPhone for a few days,” Toledo continued. “But trial and error has showed that it’s best to just limit myself.”
According to livestrong.com, the official website of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, 20 percent of people break their New Year’s resolutions within a week, and over 60 percent leave them within the course of the year.
“We’re at that point in our lives when we have experienced this type of self-defeat in not fulfilling these hefty goals,” said senior Tony Lozano, a programming major.
“We quietly sweep that plan to lose weight or gain muscle under the rug, only to dust it off every year,” he added. “That doesn’t work.”
Lozano, among other students, has proposed that the feasibility of New Year’s resolutions can be reached by setting more realistic standards
“We can start by tackling the small things,” he said.
Michael Loy, a sophomore Asian studies major, has a suggestion: “Instead of saying you want to lose the 15 pounds you packed on during the second semester of your freshman year, promise to drink more water so you can avoid consuming unnecessary calories.”
Time management and academic improvement are two other facets of college life best addressed in moderation.
“Before you swear to yourself to get straight A’s this semester, look back at the grades you earned during the fall,” Lozano advised. “Perhaps it would be better to aim for nothing lower than a B, or better yet, to set a rational grade for each class instead of the semester as a whole.”
He added: “Find the ways in which you can use downtime for something productive — even if it means using those 30 minutes you have to wait to use Megavideo to back up your photos on an external hard drive.”
The upkeep of our “online persona,” nevertheless, remains unusually important among college and graduate students.
“I don’t think it’s bad to expose your life and thoughts online,” Calimano argued.
“In fact, the Internet has become one of the most efficient mediums in getting your ideas across, with your name attached to them.”
The success of online social platforms like Facebook and Twitter has spurred the launching of business and professional networking sites like Academia.edu and LinkedIn.
“You can risk a job offer by having no profile online just as you can by having too much of an infamous one,” she said.
“I’ve already begun to clean out my inbox,” Calimano continued. “My advice is to create a profile that shows you’re serious about your business image, and I can guarantee you’ll have a leg up over those still boozing up theirs.”
About Post Author
