By Jan Abel
Hi, Jan here! I have officially survived my third semester of college, and trust me, it was
no small feat. There have been fights, health scares, and more essays than I would care to
count. But, we can let sleeping dogs lie.
As I was figuring out what I wanted to do for my final column of 2021, I suddenly remembered what I wrote last year around this time. I had made two major resolutions to myself, and to all of you. I thought, and I quote, “Maybe if I yell it for everyone who reads this column to hear, I’ll be peer pressured into keeping them.”
So, what was first? Last year’s column said: “I will read at least 24 books by the time I’m writing this column at the end of 2021.” Now see, my reasoning for this was a good one! When I was younger, I loved books. I was on a first name-basis with every librarian in Galesburg. Heck, my love for reading and writing was the whole reason I became an English major to begin with! But I will be the first to tell you that English majors read...a lot...all the time...and some of the time, it’s not fun things to read. So, unfortunately, I became overwhelmed with reading for classes, and couldn’t meet my goal. I only made it to ten books out of my goal. Still happy to have read at all, but unfortunately I didn’t win this one.
My second resolution, I am proud to say I actually did complete! As written in last year’s Burg: “I’m going to work on documenting memories more.” Now what this one means is I wanted to take more pictures and videos. My roommate has always been good at this, and I always love
looking back at pictures of memories, but I was absolutely terrible at actually getting out my
phone and taking pictures. Taking a quick run through my camera roll from the past year, I’ve
found: random photo shoots where my roommate was testing their new camera, adventures on
the back roads of Knox County, my time in the radio booth, picnics at Lake Storey, adventures in
Northern Illinois, The Roots’n’Boots tour, vacations in West Virginia and Wisconsin, a Joan Jett
Concert, the Scenic Drive, bowling nights, and Secret Santas. How many of these things would I
have forgotten about over time, if not for the evidence that I was there, and I got to experience it? I’d say this resolution was a success.
Next week I may write out what my resolutions for 2022 are, but for now, I am wishing you all a Happy New Year, and a wonderful 2022. Until next time, everyone.