As students and teachers returned to Townsend Harris High School after the holiday break, they came in armed with an optimism that stems from their various resolutions for the new year. A number of them shared both their life resolutions and their THHS-specific resolutions with The Classic.
Many students have aspirations related to college and adulthood. Senior Julia Lindner said, “My New Year’s and Townsend Harris resolution is to finish all my college applications.” Likewise, senior Rory Xiao said, “I want to get better grades and get into a T25 college.” Sophomore Tiffany Ling also expressed a desire to work on “[her] art portfolio and study for the SAT.”
Others expressed their intention to improve their physical and mental well-being.
Senior Angelica Mendieta said, “I want to drink more water. Two bottles a day.” Senior Zahara Jugdeo said, “For school, I want to stop procrastinating on my assignments and in general, I want to start taking better care of my mental and physical health.”
“My New Year’s resolution is to become more balanced in my life,” said junior Sophie Thanju. “[I want to] spread out my social stuff, my schoolwork stuff, and to just be more relaxed in general.”
Senior Natalia Piekarski said she hopes to stop biting her nails.
Freshman Yagmur Sakar said she wishes to leave two infamous numbers firmly behind in 2025: “[I want] to stop saying ’67’ in the most unfunniest way possible.”
Teachers also shared their goals.
Latin teacher Timothy Hanford said his goal is to eat less cereal.
Math teacher Sara Liu wants to get buff and rework Algebra 2.
“My new year resolution is to be physically a little stronger, building some muscles and strength,” she said. “[As for a school related goal, I need] to really finish writing the new Algebra 2 curriculum. I’m doing it day to day, and, you know, at the end of the year, I know that I’ll reach my goal of completing the new Algebra 2 curriculum.”
New librarian Katherine Yan said, “I want to apply what I learned as an educator to better the library.”
Staff member Antonella Cinquemani said she’s focusing on “eating healthier, exercising more, having a lot of patience with students, and being a good person.”
Kenneth Henderson, also known as Mr. Kenny, works with the students of P.S. 255 on the first floor of the THHS building. In addition to working on exercise and mental and physical health overall, Mr. Kenny went big with his hopes for 2026.
“[I’m hoping] for world peace,” he said.
