It’s a new year, and for many, that means making resolutions. Whether it be to work harder, or organize better, or perhaps the ubiquitous weight-loss resolution, almost everyone has something different they want to aspire to this New Year. I’m no exception — but my resolution has more to do with thinking than with doing. And . . . here it is: think positively. Not just an effort to break the “whiny teenager” mold, though I admit, that’s something that I strive to avoid (with varying degrees of success, depending on whom you ask).

A little about me — I’m Chris Yu, a junior at Jamesville-DeWitt High School in Syracuse, New York. Outside of keeping up with school and extra-curriculars, and just generally staying afloat, I spend most of my time on music, playing the trumpet.

Here, in the middle of junior year, is when I feel the training wheels come off. From here on, I’ll be able to see the shadows of colleges, just over the horizon. Scholarships will start floating by, and I’ll have to put in the work to grab them. And then, next September, it’s over the proverbial waterfall. Things are already picking up — application deadlines for junior year summer camps are rolling around, and the essay-writing perseverance they require is just a window into college applications next fall (If people want to know where the “whiny teenager” state comes from, they need look no further than junior and senior year).

So, the positive outlook definitely is important. Maybe the added stress will be a sign that things are going well — lots of options to pursue, after all (See, I’m working on the outlook already). And, well, maybe I’m not looking forward to it, but it’s something that everyone needs to get through.

Luckily, there’s still some time to get ready. Right now, I’m just a junior with his mind set on other things than colleges — really, I’ve hardly begun thinking about them right now. With schoolwork, music, and other extra-curriculars already part of this balancing act, the transition to thinking seriously about college will be something for me to watch. Even taking the ACT: though I definitely knew it was a great investment for college and beyond, I also thought of it as something to gauge myself on — a proving ground, so to speak. In preparing, I needed to show myself that I was ready to put in the work necessary for the years to come.

And so I think I’m ready for the work, but I still must figure out where that work should be directed. I’ve still only a vague idea of what I want to pursue in college, and it’s high time that I worked that out. So I’m glad that it’s still January; there are still a few months to set my goals in order. Make no mistake, though; a few months can seem like a long time, but it can also pass before we know it, leaving us with only days before a certain deadline — an experience that most of us have had.

But, I must (reluctantly) admit, I never put in much hard work throughout middle school. I just felt that nothing was challenging enough back then to warrant the work that, to the past “me’s” chagrin, I now find myself putting in most every day in high school. So, I wasn’t exactly off to a good start; it’s an all-too-common story, like someone who excels in middle school but falls from the top in high school because of their lack of motivation.

Then, something happened. I went to a certain camp called CTY (Center for Talented Youth), essentially a college environment for three weeks, living on campus and attending very advanced classes. There, though I’m a bit embarrassed to admit it, one thing that struck me was that I wasn’t the smartest person in the room, by far. It didn’t seem like much at the time, but looking back, I realized that there was always someone better than me out there. It would no longer be enough to just cruise through classes; that would lead to trouble. I had to strive to match that person, somewhere out there.

So then came high school, and I found that I was well prepared to meet its demands. Soon, another jump from high school to college will occur, and it’ll again be important to recognize the importance of effort. Not all work, all day, certainly. I leave what time I can to relax from the demands of the day, whether it be through games, or reading, or just talking. But I’ve learned that when the time comes, the effort makes all the difference. In the coming months, there’ll definitely be times when I feel swamped with all the things to balance, but, well, if other people have gotten through it, then so can I.

Maintaining a positive outlook — that’s definitely a resolution for me to keep, not just in the new year, but in the new decade.