My best friend and I on her 21st Bday

So 2010 has come and gone, another year added to my history. I have to say, I had a ton of fun this past year, and a lot of good memories to look back on. There was Snowmageddon, Bmore Proud, my sister’s engagement, my first ever capoeira batizado, and my slight obsession with running, among others. I met so many new people this year, and made so many great friends in the process. This year has been a whirlwind for sure, and it’s time to endure the onslaught of the next one.

Now, lots of people tend to make New Year’s resolutions, and it makes sense; it’s a new year, time to make a fresh start. However, you shouldn’t just make the resolutions because it’s a new year, make them because you want to make them. As such, here are my resolutions, or rather, goals that I have and want to continue striving for, among new one’s as well.

Train Capoeira More

This is always one of my goals, ever since I joined capoeira over a year ago. I’m at the point where I need to learn new skills to continue to build upon the ones I have, and throw in some cool moves to the mix. I really want to train to advance to a higher cord, even though your cord really doesn’t matter all too much in capoeira. However, I also want to train because I enjoy doing it, it’s something that I can just free myself with. I somehow manage to leave all the stress behind and just enjoy capoeira.

Jake captures my feelings for capoeira perfectly.

Cook More

You would think that after being a cook in a restaurant that I actually would cook a lot. Well, this past semester I got pretty lazy. It’s not entirely all my fault; my stove is not hooked up, so we use electric burners and toaster ovens. Granted, this is all I had in the dorm last year, but it just doesn’t cut it. This semester, and onward, I plan on cooking more and more, and learning new recipes in the process. I came upon this realization when I went to go buy fresh cilantro for my friend who was having a dinner party. I had no idea I could get these ingredients so close to Hopkins, and now that I do know where to get them, I think it’s time I tried learning how to use them, properly at least.

Stress Less

This is really explained in my last blog, so I’m not going to go into detail. In short, I want to stop stressing over the little things. Instead, I want to just enjoy.

Damn stress buildup…

Eat Healthier

This ties in with cooking more, but at the same time, I need to eat healthier. If you saw what I ate, you’d actually wonder how I was losing weight this past semester; it completely baffles me too. So, I want to eat fresher foods; fruits and veggies mainly, but lean meats as well. Who knows, maybe I’ll even try seafood again!

Have Fun

Sure, I say this all the time, but really, I do want to have fun. I don’t want to regret not doing something just because I was guilted into staying in and working on something. I know my will power is not that great and that I wouldn’t actually do the work. I need to make sure that I actually enjoy college. It’s a time of social exploration, and I want to make sure I achieve that. As much as knowing how some fluid flows or how a motor is powered is beneficial to my future career, not knowing how to express my ideas and how to be social would be shooting myself in the foot. You need a little of both, not too much of either.

Accurate picture of my friends and I as we go to the club.

So those are my goals for this next semester, and the future beyond. What are some of yours?