It’s been almost two weeks and some people may have already forgotten their New Year’s resolutions. Still more haven’t even started, and some just don’t even bother to try anymore.

But there are still some who believe the new year is a chance for a new beginning.

Andrew Bacigalupo, a freshman theatre major, has not only one resolution, which is often difficult enough, but has 10.

“I needed to get things changed with me,” Bacigalupo said. “So I made a list and put it on a file on my computer.”

Among his resolutions are to lose weight, manage his money, cut back on soft drinks and fast food, he said.

In an article by Dr. Pauline Wallin, she said that it is normal for many Americans feel the urge to rid themselves of the typical excesses of the holidays such as overeating, overspending, and overindulgences in general.

“It’s no problem to plan to quit smoking when we’ve just had a cigarette and replenished our nicotine level,” Wallin said. “At this point we feel confident about our New Year’s resolutions because we have not yet confronted any prolonged physical deprivation or discomfort.”

Americans are not the first people in history to make goals for the new year. According to the History Television website, the holiday and the resolutions began 4,000 years ago with the Babylonians. ”

They believed what they did on New Year’s Day would affect the rest of the year,” the web site said. “They also made New Year’s resolutions, most commonly to return borrowed farm equipment.”

The site added that the symbol of New Year’s, the baby, signifies rebirth. Bacigalupo said his New Year’s resolutions were all about change and that he plans to stick to them, even though many people give up by mid-February.

He said he plans on focusing not on the here and now, but on the future. “It’ll be a year-long thing, and making sure I keep things throughout the year,” he said.

He began focusing on his new year’s resolution last semester.

“I started making a list to see the different things I wanted to work on,” Bacigalupo said. “Every time I thought of different things (I) would add it to the list so that I would have it ready.”

That list now includes things like reading more books, finding a job, focusing on school, not stressing the small stuff, working on getting things done, and learning to play the piano.

Joe Jones, a non-degree seeking student, agreed with Bacigalupo, saying that he would also be taking up new activities.

“I’m not necessarily giving up or quitting something, that never works,” says Jones.

Jones says his main goal is to get accepted at Chase Law School this semester.

“My resolutions would be to do something that gets me accepted,” he said. “And my fianc