At the beginning of every school year, I find myself and others from my class evaluating last year's academic performances. We also begin creating new goals for the following year. Hopefully we can make sure we successfully complete these goals. Of course, these "to do" lists strangely resemble the new year's resolutions lists we make. Yes, we promise ourselves to exercise more or to be nicer to our neighbors, but the fact remains: most of these resolutions don't stand a chance of being accomplished. These same tribulations are faced by the student who aspires to overcome obstacles which he or she wasn't able to accomplish the previous year. But not two months later, they are usually forgotten or (even more commonly) denied they were even created in the first place.

Unfortunately, I too fit into this ever-growing category. At the beginning of this school year, I wrote an essay on five goals I would like to accomplish. But until about a week ago, I hadn't even thought about these goals, and barely remembered that I had made them. My first goal (one I hadn't made a good effort to accomplish last year) is to find school interesting, and to learn as much as I could. Furthermore, I wanted to concentrate completely on my academics for the whole year. My second goal was related to the first - to take better notes by paying better attention in class. I also made two goals which were not as academic-oriented. One was to learn to ask for help more often, and to recognize when I need help (and when it can be done on my own). My last goal (and what I thought would be the easiest) was to follow the reasonable orders of my parents.

The reason I set this goal and found it important was because after my previous year, I hadn't made an honest effort to understand my parents and the "job" they are responsible for, and more important, the jobs I am responsible for.

Of course, with my goal, there are real or potential obstacles that stand in the way. I think one problem in meeting my parents' needs is my not trying. I think if anyone doesn't try their hardest to meet their goals, that in itself is the hardest obstacle to overcome.

The solutions to these problems seem so easy, but to me they are very difficult. Life is filled with questions and uncertainties; yet living life may not be about finding answers, it may be about how one deals with the questions. ?