IN PHOTOS: WINTER SPORTS MIDSEASON

Women’s swimming:

Following an outstanding 2021-22 season, which included nine program records be broken, the women’s swimming and diving team's performance has been underwhelming. The team’s last meet of the regular season was Jan. 27 versus Rider, which it dominated in to finish with a 164-91 win, but prior performances have been subpar — especially against Ancient Eight opposition. Heading into the Ivy League Championships at Princeton starting Feb. 15, the Quakers currently put up a 5-5 overall record and a 2-5 conference record.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Women's basketball:

The Red and Blue are currently caught in a three-way tie for second place in Ivy standings, with a conference record of 5-2. This past Saturday, the squad fell to Harvard in a 84-60 blowout, revealing cracks in their road play. Next up, Penn's resilience will be put to the test as it faces off against first place Columbia this upcoming Friday — hoping to repeat its 71-67 victory over the Lions earlier this season.

Men's basketball:

Despite high expectations for this season, the Quakers have struggled, currently finding themselves tied for fifth in the Ivy League with a conference record of 3-4. Junior guard Jordan Dingle has been dynamite on the court all season — not only leading his squad in scoring, but also climbing to the second-highest scorer in all of NCAA Division I. The Quakers have seven games left to climb into the top four and secure their spot in the Ivy League tournament.

Gymnastics:

The gymnastics team is on fire right now, having most recently scored a mark of 195.025 at the UNH Quad meet this past Sunday. This was not only the team’s best score of the season, but also ties for fourth best in program history. The week before that, the Quakers scored a mark of 194.800, which is a new program record for meets at home. Looking to carry on with their recordbreaking season, the Quakers will compete next against Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y. on Feb. 5.

Wrestling: Penn wrestling is currently ranked No. 21 nationally, and had eight wrestlers earn national recognition in the latest NCAA coaches panel. This includes junior Michael Colaiocco, who has placed as high as seventh in the country in his weight class. Last weekend, the Quakers crushed both Harvard and Brown 37-7 and 28-8, respectively. The squad will next travel to Ithaca, N.Y. to play #6-ranked Cornell on Sunday, Feb. 5.

Men's squash:

The Quakers are currently ranked No. 2 in the country by the College Squash Association. The team’s record is 13-1, and the only loss was a thrilling 5-4 defeat to top-ranked Harvard. If the the team can continue to dominate its opposition this season, the Quakers will get the chance to take back the Potter Cup that they so narrowly lost last season.

Women's squash:

Ranked at No. 9 in the country and currently boasting a 5-6 record, the Penn women's squash season has served up mixed results. The team's sub-.500 record shouldn't distract from highlights of the season, though, which include wins against both No. 11 Tufts and No. 12 Stanford. Additionally, sophomore Grace Lavin has had a particularly strong season, leading the team with a 7-3 record.

Men’s swimming:

Similar to the women’s swimming and diving team, the Quakers have had a mediocre record this season of 5-4-1. On a higher note, star Matt Fallon recorded an NCAA A-cut time of 1:50.28 in the 200-yard breaststroke at the Zippy Invitational on Dec. 1, automatically qualifying him for the 2023 NCAA Championships next month. He's won eight consecutive races in January alone. Fallon and his teammates are looking forward to the Ivy League Championships, which are right around the corner starting Feb. 22 at Brown.

Women’s fencing: The Quakers are currently ranked No. 29 nationally with a 19-8 overall record. As of late, the Quakers have been on a roll with a four-game winning streak, recently beating St. John’s, Yale, Long Island, and Hunter — hoping to carry this momentum into the Ivy Championship just under two weeks away and improve on its fourth-place finish from last season.

Men’s fencing: With a record of 16-8, the Red and Blue have had some ups and downs this season. Most recently at the Tri-State Shark Showcase on Jan. 29, they lost to both St. John’s and Yale but crushed Hunter and Long Island. The Quakers are looking forward to the Ivy League Championship starting Feb. 11 at Cornell, where the team finished third last year.

Some people believe that New Year’s resolutions are trite, often useless attempts at lofty goals. Roughly 80% of people fail to keep their resolutions intact. Despite this discouraging statistic, I still believe that resolutions have value in aiding us in something even bigger and more important than achieving our tangible goals.

People usually approach resolutions with an all-or-nothing mindset: After one failure, there’s no point in continuing the pursuit of that resolution. I believe that achieving resolutions lies in focusing on the process of a resolution rather than the end goal itself. Thus, failure once or twice will not derail the whole process.

New Year's resolutions can be extremely beneficial in aiding the process of creating ourselves. Of course, there’s something that feels optional about a resolution because there’s no penalty for not living up to it, and there’s always the next year to try again. This becomes especially easy when a resolution is unquantifiable — “I’m going to be a more patient person this year,” or “I’m going to eat healthier this year.” After a failure to achieve this goal, it’s only human to think it’s no longer worth pursuing.

In lieu of unquantifiable goals, there should be a shift to process-oriented resolutions, such as SMART goals. If you have a goal to become a more avid reader, the focus of this should be on the process itself, such as setting a resolution to read 10 pages a day from a novel. I also find that process-oriented resolutions are integral to an overarching idea I’m beginning to embrace: the idea that we create — not find or discover — ourselves in college.

Resolutions are only a small and timely discussion in the overarching ideal of finding ourselves in everything that we do. Resolutions are a reminder that it’s a new year and a chance to set new goals that we can look forward to achieving in the coming year. But the main point of mentioning resolutions is not about the resolutions themselves but in what they can do for us as young people eager to learn more about who we are.

Entering the new year should always feel like a refreshing start, especially in college. College is often talked about as the prime time for self-discovery with endless exploration and opportunities. Thus, entering each year is an exciting restart but also a continuation of building on the lessons learned from the previous year. We go to college to get an education, friends, and the professional and interpersonal skills necessary to be successful in this life.

I was very excited about going to college for those exact reasons. Although not immediately, I thought that everything would definitely fall into place in the way that it was supposed to. In the pursuit of professional skills and a good education, we assume that there are specific majors and eventual career goals destined for us. We sometimes believe that we are also destined for specific social circles. We even think that in all of this, we have found ourselves. Even after finishing my first year, I thought I had undoubtedly found myself in my new friends and my major. Almost a full year later, going into 2023, I realized that I didn’t really find myself in any of that.

Finding yourself inherently implies that there’s one version of yourself and one version of your life that is waiting for you, waiting to be discovered. With that mindset, I began to question my choices of my major, my extracurriculars, and how I was focusing my energy. Was this the major and the subsequent career path I was meant to find? What if I am making the wrong choices — will my future go awry? These questions started to plague me last semester, and I became fearful that I was going down the wrong path. What if I am meant to be pre-med? It’s a bit cliche, but it's both a beauty and a burden that there is no wrong answer.

I know that I’m far from alone in questioning these things. Many students struggle with narrowing their focus academically, socially, and emotionally. But with reflection, I decided that I no longer wanted to frame life as simply finding pieces that belong to a larger, predestined puzzle. I prefer the metaphor that everyone’s life is a piece of art that we create along the way as we adjust to the inevitable oscillations of life. And most importantly, there is no final product that is more correct or beautiful than any other.

So, in the spirit of New Year's and college, choose resolutions that encourage you to create yourself in a way that dedicates you to a process rather than a goal. Not only does this approach provide more room for failure, it again aligns with a mindset of creation versus discovery. Embrace the creation that 2023 holds!

ALLISON SANTA-CRUZ is a College sophomore studying communication from Jackson, Miss. Her email is allisant@sas.upenn.edu.

5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 … Happy New Year!

Magically, as if Cinderella's fairy godmother herself had waved her wand and uttered an exuberant “Bippity Boppity Boo,” your whole personality changed at the stroke of midnight. The saying “new near, new me” reflects this idea perfectly, and although many people live by this mindset, it’s unfortunately straight out of a fairytale. The new year alone doesn’t signify any personal changes that cannot happen any other day of the year; it’s the work that you put in throughout the year that will accumulate in the personal realizations you want to see.

Losing weight. Going to the gym every morning. Connecting more frequently with friends. All of these are common New Year's resolutions, but why is it that we consider January the only time to start new habits?

Truthfully, we should feel motivated to spend personal time working on self-improvement more than one out of 12 months of the year.

As signified by the line going out the door of Pottruck Health and Fitness Center this January, Penn students are among the masses who view the new year as the perfect opportunity to start a new habit. Due to Penn's preprofessional nature, the pressure to start the new year strong and make both academic and professional gains may feel even stronger. Unfortunately, 43% of people will fail their set resolutions by February. Whether you’re a part of this 43% or you manage to practice your resolutions further into the year, it can be a struggle to stay consistent.

Admittedly, I am certainly the type of person who sits down at the end of December and reflects on both my accomplishments and failures from the past year. I also create a list of goals that aim to correct some of the disappointments, and I continue the momentum gained from the highs. However, I’m strongly against the notion that goal-setting needs to happen at the beginning of a new cycle around the sun. Goal setting can — and should — happen at all times of the year, and the self-reflection that comes from creating goals should not be a one-off yearly occasion.

Another reason I don’t completely buy this idea of “New Year's resolutions” is that oftentimes people try to plan everything they want for that year in advance. Let's be honest, December 2022 you likely will not have the same priorities or opportunities that December 2023 you will ultimately be confronted with. One of the main reasons people fail their New

Year's resolutions is due to a lack of structure in setting their goals. When you can’t imagine or isolate your goals into tangible steps, it may become daunting and a lot harder to see progress.

Bigger is not always better. When it comes to goal setting for the new year, I recommend starting smaller. Think short term, and prioritize goals that you can complete in steps. The New York Times recommends setting goals using the SMART goals model in which goals are “specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.” Not only do your goals need to be quantifiable, but they also need to be practical for your existing schedule.

Let’s take the example of striving to work out in the new year and make it a SMART goal. To begin, you would need to clearly outline your parameters: Whether it's to attend the gym every day or simply twice a week, make sure you set an agenda you can stick to. Once this is established, factor in your existing schedule and set smaller goals for yourself in order to see progress. Also, consider setting rewards along your journey in order to keep it fun and chart your progression.

Whether your goal involves starting a new habit or retaining an existing one, the most important things to ensure success include strategic planning, upping the stakes with rewards and consequences, and positive association. It is also important to remember that hiccups are both expected and acceptable! One mistake doesn’t mean you are incapable of achievement, as success is not always linear.

Personally, I’m proud to be entering the new year as the same person I was last year. Rather than building changes from the ground up, I’m eager to improve my existing self and allow the events of the next year to shape the path that I take. I encourage you to do the same. While it is important to aim to better yourself, take time to sit back, relax, and reflect on your many accomplishments. And maybe, if you discover a hobby you really like in July, consider making time to pick it up immediately, rather than waiting another six months for the new year.

MIA VESELY is a College first year studying philosophy, politics, and economics from Phoenix. Her email is mvesely@upenn.sas.edu.

FactCheck.org, the award-winning political website at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, is now accepting applications for its 2023-2024 undergraduate fellowship program. The next class of undergrads will be trained during an eight-week, paid summer program at FactCheck’s offices at APPC (or online, if necessary) from May 30 to July 21. Those who are trained this summer must agree to work 10 to 15 hours per week at FactCheck.org during the fall and spring semesters, if their work merits continued employment.

The fellows at FactCheck.org help our staff monitor the factual accuracy of claims made by political figures in TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, social media and news releases. They also monitor viral claims and rumors that spread through email and social media. They help conduct research on such claims and contribute to articles for publication on our website under the supervision of FactCheck.org staff. The fellows must have an ability to write clearly and concisely, an understanding of journalistic practices and ethics, and an interest in politics and public policy. The fellows also must be able to think independently and set aside any partisan biases.

If you are interested, please submit your resume and two writing samples by the Feb. 6 deadline to FactCheck.org.

Deputy Managing Editor Rob Farley at rob.farley@factcheck.org. Please direct any questions about the program or application process to the same address.