What. A. Year.

A year of unrelenting turbulence overflowing with grief, fear, and uncertainty. A historic year: where time ran so quickly against us, and where veterans of perhaps one of the hardest wars in history had to endure their worst nightmares.

At the beginning of this year, I wrote down 21 goals for 2021. I had a vision of the way I wanted to conduct myself this year, despite the chaos of a year 2020 was.

To say it went well is quite possibly the biggest bluff that could ever come out of my mouth.

So, I have hereby devised a new, more realistic, list: a list that will carry me to the end of this horrid year, and a list that I will try (decently) hard to stay true to. Now that I’ve put it in writing, I’ve got the means to keep me in check (hypothetically).

Notes To Self:

1. Read more.
2. Drink more water, please.
3. Sleep before 12.
4. Don’t get mad when people don’t wear their masks correctly.
5. Charge the Chromebook BEFORE school.
6. Constantly think about how to take the bare minimum to school so that you do not suffer from chronic back and shoulder pain.
7. Drink water, again.
8. Put one pencil in the pencil case and then STORE THE OTHERS ELSEWHERE SAFELY so that it would be theoretically impossible to lose all pencils within a week.
9. Forget about the PSAT because that’s over now.
10. Don’t forget to cross out tasks when they’re completed because the instant gratification really goes a long way. Also, there aren’t many chances to cross things off due to the unfortunate fact that completing the tasks is required first, so take advantage of them.
11. Don’t wear the same mask every day because that gets boring. Instead, rotate between the three vibrant colors you own: black, grey, and white.
12. Whenever the going gets tough, remember that the Great British Baking Show exists.
13. Make as many Spotify playlists as possible before your Premium 3-month free trial ends.
14. Don’t forget that you have a bedside fan now, so the one-leg-out-of-the-blanket shenanigan can be effectively avoided.
15. Junior year is hard.
16. Life is hard.
17. But that’s okay, because Billy Joel exists!
18. Ask for help when you need it, because that’s a lot of the time.
19. Fuzzy socks are really important.
20. Help the community by whatever means possible, whether that be music, volunteering, etc.
21. Enjoy yourself. High school only happens once.