What’s your New Year Resolution for the Academic Year?

There’s something about the academic year that feels like a second New Year’s Eve. 

Maybe it’s the scent of new stationery, or the way campus slowly fills with people again, all carrying their own quiet ambitions and goals. For me, as I start my second year of a part-time MA in English Literature, this fresh start feels like a chance to set things right and turn last year’s lessons into this year’s resolutions.

Don’t get me wrong, when I started my course last year, I was determined to make the most of student life. After all, postgraduate study can be lonely if you let it and due to circumstances, I’d missed out a lot in my undergrad. This was my time to live the student life as much as possible, both socially and academically. So, with my free time, I threw myself into planning study sessions, developing a gym routine and joining several societies. My calendar looked impressive on paper, full of meetings and events, but in reality, I was dashing from one thing to another, trying to convince myself I could do it all. 

Spoiler: I couldn’t. I burnt out within the first term. Somewhere between society meetups and personal commitments, my essays crept up on me. Despite promising myself I’d start early, I found myself once again racing deadlines. One night, I stayed awake for twenty-two hours straight just to finish an essay. It wasn’t my proudest academic moment and I wouldn’t have been able to do it were it not for my ADHD, but it taught me something valuable about balance and burnout.

So, this year, I’m keeping things simple. My first goal is to approach my studies with more consistency. Productivity isn’t about working constantly, but about working *intentionally*. I’m building small, regular study habits like setting aside time each week for reading, drafting, and reflection, so that when deadlines loom, I’m not starting from scratch. Let’s not forget my dissertation that is going to be a huge focus this year, and I want to give it the attention it deserves without running myself into the ground.

My second resolution is to be more selective with all the extracurriculars. Instead of signing up for whatever hyper fixation I might have at the moment, I’m focusing on the activities and interests I know will stay with me and help me form real connections with people.

Finally, I want to think more about life *after* university. I love my subject, but experience tells me that passion alone far from guarantees direction. This year, I’m aiming to gain experience outside the classroom through internships, insight days, and any opportunities that connect my academic skills to the professional world. Whether that leads to publishing, marketing, or something unexpected, I want to graduate with not only a degree, but a clearer sense of where I’m headed.

So, while everyone else is counting down to December 31st, I’m making my resolutions now. September feels like a blank page, full of potential and as any English student knows, that’s the best place to begin.

Words by: Megan Ingram-Jones 

Featured image courtesy of Dominic Kurniawan Suryaputra via Unsplash. No changes have been made to this image. Image licence found here.