The Youth Review presents our 15th series, "New Year, New Me", in celebration of the annual time for reflection and reset. 

Derek Wang's New Year, New Me, Teresa Jiang's New Year Resolution, and Brendon Wang's New Year, New Me each list the writer's individual resolutions for the months to come. Whether it's playing basketball, reading books, or practicing piano, let us all wish them the best of luck in accomplishing their goals!

On the other hand, Eva Chen takes a different approach in her beautiful coming-of-age poem, No Change, filled with thought-provoking imagery and perspectives.

Be sure to also check out the final chapter of the longer series The Mysterious Island by Teresa Jiang and Lindsey Mo! If you missed the previous chapters, you can start here.

        Last year was challenging in some ways, but it led to other great things like learning new things. I hope this year will be better and the pandemic will stop. This year, I will exercise more, get better at Chinese, get better at playing the piano, and improve at math.

        First, I want to exercise more. I have been sitting at the computer for the past year, and it’s bad for my body. I will do 100 jump ropes per day. This will also help me grow faster. Whenever the weather cooperates, I will play tennis. This will make me better at tennis and provide a workout.

        Next, I will get better at Chinese. During the weekend, I will write a paragraph about Chinese. I will also write words during the weekend. Doing this will help me get better at Chinese and fill in my free time.

        ​Then, I will also improve at playing the piano. I will practice every day without my mom reminding me. When I practice, I will concentrate on playing the piano instead of doing other things.

        Finally, I will improve in math. Although I am already good at math, I always make silly mistakes. This year, I will be more accurate. This will help me get better scores in math contests.

        ​In conclusion, I will do things that can help me become better at some skills, and help my body recover from sitting in front of the computer all day. This will make me a better person overall.

        It’s a new year in January, and many people create targets for themselves to accomplish. This year, I would like to reach some goals to make myself a better person.

        My first aim is to read more books. During the test season, I didn’t have much time to read. Novels help increase vocabulary, knowledge, and interests. Those are really important in life, so I think reading will boost my strength in Language Arts. My goal for this year’s reading is to finish five to ten books each month and read when I have time!

        The second target I have on my list is to work on my gymnastics harder than before. After the pandemic, it’s hard to find time and concentrate on this exercise. Gymnastics helps retain my physical strength and flexibility. I exercise the basics in my house for one hour, and challenge my dad to do pull-ups, pushups, and handstands.

        Lastly, I’d like to fix my emotions and talk more kindly. Sometimes, I get so angry that I want to scream so badly, and it’s hard to restrain myself from doing it. And other times, I feel cranky and talk to my family in a not-so-nice way. Controlling my emotions is a big part of my life, and I need to fix that. Next time I feel like I’m going to burst lava out of my mouth, I’ll go into my room and cool off. This way, my feelings will go back to normal again!
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        ​A new year helps me improve myself in different years, and build different targets. This way, I’ll enhance myself with different goals and work hard to accomplish them. It’s one of the best holidays to celebrate Lunar New Year, and brand new year to fix the crooked parts in myself!

        2021 may have been challenging because of the pandemic, but there have also been happy moments. I hope that in 2022, things will start to get better, and Covid-19 will not be as bad as 2021.
        My goals are to get better at math, exercise more, and improve my Chinese.  
        Yes, I am good at math. But if I improve, I might be better. You can improve no matter what, right? Another reason I want to get better at math is so I can use my math skills to help me solve problems.  
        Currently, I am not exercising very much. It snowed a few days ago. That means I cannot play basketball and other sports easily. Still, I can exercise inside, which I am planning to do. I will get better, and who doesn’t like exercising anyway? 
        ​Chinese might be my most tough goal to achieve yet. I’ll need to write Chinese, read Chinese, and finish my Chinese homework. But I still think I can improve. Even though it is hard, you can’t just give up. I have to be brave, or I will not meet my goal.
        In summary, I hope I can:
​                ​•    Learn more math
                •    Exercise often
                ​•    Try my best at Chinese
        Most of all, I hope 2022 can be a wonderful year!

        Luna sprang out of bed and hopped on Ada’s bed, shaking her sister awake. Today was a bright day, just perfect for their plan – beach day!

        “YAWN,” Ada said in a sleepy tone. “What? It’s Sunday. So lay off, okay, Luna?”

        ​Luna smirked. She walked into the small storage room and took out the sand toys including the shovel, bucket, castle and many others. Luna showed them to Ada, who finally remembered what she promised Luna: to go where there is comfortable, soft sand and the rushing waves of the sea.

        “Remember what we said yesterday?” Luna said impatiently. “ Wake up, sleepyhead! Let’s go! It’s our last day. I don’t wanna miss out and go home bored.”

        Ada sat up and looked at her watch, still tired. She hopped out of bed and changed her clothes, then went downstairs to eat breakfast, which was eggs and toast with orange juice and cereal! The sisters thought it was the best, and so they ate the combo four times a week. It was also much easier to prepare somewhere they were.
Luna changed into her swimsuit and darted out the door while Ada put on her flip flops. The perfect beach as they imagined. Ada stared at the beautiful, shimmering sea, thinking of what they did: Not notice anything fun, amazing, or pretty.

        ​The waters were shimmering, and Luna loved it. It glimmered under the sun like pure pearls! Luna took off her sandals and walked into the water. It was cool, and she loved it. The soft sand stuck in between her toes, and it felt so tickly and prickly.

        “Ada!” Luna shrieked. Her eyes shined. “I’ve never felt something nice like this before! I wish we lived here. But I know we can’t afford to buy a house somewhere here. It’s too expensive. Though, it still would have been great living here.”

        Ada gave a half shrug, gave thumbs up and sat down on her beach towel. She had told her sister about a time that she went to an awesome little place that had a beach in front of a house, marketplaces, gardens… everything someone would ask for. It was pretty much a dream place to live in, but, like Luna said, they couldn’t afford to live somewhere like that place.

        As they were relaxing, Ada’s phone rang. A call from their mother!

        Ada answered the call. “Hey, mom! We are doing great here. We’ll come home soon, so please don’t worry… alright, bye!”

        The hours flew by, and it was already noon. The sisters rushed back into the beach house and packed everything up. They scurried to the bus, and stayed there to get to the airport.

        Ada looked outside the window and saw a beautiful view. Luna was sleeping quietly with no snoring noises.

        It’s so peaceful here, Ada squeaked in her mind. We are going home. I’ll see mom and dad! But I will miss our trip too.
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        Both sisters had a great time, including adventuring and relaxing. They both agreed that it was the best trip ever – and a great experience for them both!