Heart racing, he sits in his darkened room at 2 a.m., the computer light illuminating his face. Hands trembling, he reaches for his third cup of coffee and continues typing away on his essay that is due in six short hours. Going to bed just hours before he has to wake up, he wonders how he got to this point. He soon plans to make it a habit to get his work done on time in hopes to never feel this way again.

Everyone has habits, whether they are detrimental or uplifting ones. Recent studies have revealed that committing 21 days to a certain activity or routine can make developing or breaking a habit possible. Students confessed their habits and contemplated what 21-day challenge they would be able to accomplish.

Senior Alicia Hinojosa’s story: Over sleeping
“I’m the kind of person who will always hit snooze on the alarm clock a bunch of times. I have an early alarm but I always plan on hitting snooze. In the morning I always forget how many times that I hit snooze so I wake up way later than expected. One thing that I could do to break this habit is to go to bed earlier and set my alarm later so that I know I don’t have time to snooze it. Breaking this habit would help me get to school at a better time and wake up earlier so I don’t have to rush in the morning. I think that I could go to bed earlier, work-out regularly and start doing random acts of kindness for 21 days. I really think that all of these challenges are manageable and they would make me a much more positive person.”

Sophomore Harry Dushane’s story: Procrastination
“I used to procrastinate crazily. It got to the point where I was getting behind in my schoolwork and I needed to get my grades up. I knew that I had to do something to break this terrible habit, so I made a plan to fix my time management skills. It was difficult to break because I did it for so long. Now that I have overcome this habit, it feels like I am finally on top of things and like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I think that I could do a random act of kindness everyday, keep my room clean and go without swearing for 21 days. I have a dirty room, but if I tried, I could keep it clean. Doing a random act of kindness, would be really easy because I already do that. I think I can do this because it would help me become a better person and improve my lifestyle.”

Freshman Autumn Beckstrand’s story: Nail biting
“I used to bite my nails constantly. I would do it whenever I would get nervous. I knew I needed to stop because I wanted to get longer nails. In order to stop, I would wear acrylic nails or I would paint them. I am glad that my habit wasn’t noticeable to other people. I believe that I could go 21 days without social media and without any missing assignments. I don’t think it would be that difficult because I don’t get that many missing assignments already. Going without social media might take some getting used to, but it would be doable. These challenges would help me become more responsible and I think they could make me more of a people person.”