Why Not? 2026 – a year without excuses

Dear Reader,

“New Year, New Me”. It is a phrase that rolls around at the start of January like clockwork. Calendars flip, and as some make Pinterest boards, others make temporary promises to themselves to eat healthily, pick up a new hobby and become an ‘academic weapon’ in the library. As a fan of The New Yorker’s 100 illustrations, I find myself thinking of the cartoon by Frank Modell, from 1994, titled ‘New Year, New You’. It shows a woman striding confidently on a treadmill, head held high, with her little dog trotting loyally behind her. I have always wanted a follow-up panel depicting what they are doing at the end of the year. This is the unfortunate curse of the phrase – it is a sprint in January, a jog in February, and by March it’s a walk.

So, the question remains: when is the right moment to start something new, and how do we know we will commit to it?

“It’s too late” is the most common answer, and frankly, the easiest one. It is a convenient excuse: the timing is wrong, the moment has passed, everyone else has already started. Even things that we may find tempting are pushed away, and we make excuses that we ‘don’t want to be alone’ or that it would be ‘awkward’ to join now that the first couple of months of university have passed.

Yet perhaps there is never a right time. Perhaps the only way forward is to make it the right time by trying.

As we enter the New Year, a range of opportunities present themselves, and it is important not to let them pass unnoticed

A place to start:

Fitness and sport: Whether that is getting into an old sport or trying an entirely new one, prioritising your health and staying fit is a great way to start the new year. The gym can be an intimidating place at first, but booking a class is often the simplest entry point. The first step is to download the Warwick University Sport app, where you can choose from a range of classes, from studio cycle, body pump, to beginner yoga.

Creativity and art: Sometimes, taking a moment to do something creative can be the perfect stress-reliever after a long day of university work. The Warwick Art Society (@warwickartsoc) host weekly events, such as live drawing or museum crawls, which are open to all artistic abilities. You do not need to be Vincent Van Gogh or Picasso, just willing to give it a go.

Connecting with culture and language: Warwick’s diversity is one of its greatest strengths and gives it a uniqueness that many other universities do not have. There is a range of cultural societies, such as the European Society (@warwickeurosoc) and the Japan Society (@warwickjs). These groups invite you to engage with cultures beyond your own and meet people you might never otherwise cross paths with.

Song and music: Whether you are a fan of Taylor Swift (@warwickswiftsoc) or maybe you prefer living out your Pitch Perfect dreams with the Warwick A capella Society (@waca), music can be the best way to connect people together.

TV and film: Putting on a good film, one that you may have watched five or six times, but never fails to satisfy due to its cinematography, acting, or soundtrack, is sometimes just necessary. We all have that one film that can make us cry, laugh, or think about life differently. Societies such as the Filmmaking Society (@warwickfilmmaking) may be calling to film fans in the new year.

Faith and belief: One of the things that makes us so interesting as human beings is our faith and belief systems. There are a range of societies that bring people together to talk about their own faith or have conversations about beliefs, like the Warwick Christian Union (@warwickcu) or the Warwick Islamic Society (@warwick.isoc).

Academic: If you want to start off with something more familiar, joining an academic society can be beneficial to help with your own studies or maybe give a go at something completely different from your own degree. The Chemistry Society (@warwickchemsoc) is open to chemists, biochemists and non-chemists, and the Warwick Coding Society (@wwcodesoc) allows others to grow and develop their skills with others.

So, maybe 2026 does not need to be a reinvention or a ‘rebrand’ but instead a year where we remove the excuses and say yes to things rather than immediately letting our fear of starting late get the better of us.

After all, why not – right?

P.S.: Why not have a scroll on the Warwick SU webpage?

From Her