Good Afternoon, readers! Lens of The People is a column dedicated to the capture of the real-life scenarios and events of the local Houston area whilst also giving the thoughts and opinions of the Houston community itself its own voice to speak through.
The New Year has begun and so everyone is back to business as usual, pursuing their goals and personal hopes for themselves. Plenty of people, and I would wager to say most people, made New Year’s Resolutions, things they hope to follow through with in 2019, but how are they starting the year off? I, for one, believe that the beginning of anything is always the first step to a better future. I think that this first month of January, more than any other will be a true reflection of the overall tone of the year. That being said, what I asked the people of Houston this week was exactly that: How do you plan on starting off 2019, and how will it serve to benefit you going forward?
“I’m going to start working a whole lot more and indulging in self-care more than I did in the past. At the moment, I’m trying to work several jobs in the hopes of fixing my car and then eventually getting my own home as well. Hopefully this is the year where I’ll also be able to get my racing team off the ground.” -Michael Aguilar
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“I plan on becoming someone my future family can be proud of. I want to be able to reflect on this year and have no regrets. This year I want to somehow positively affect the Black community and bring us up, instead of tearing us down, because I feel that we often dwell on the negatives of our community rather than indulging in what’s good about us.” -Tré Longino
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“This new year I’m starting off with a bigger drive to inspire myself. I’m trying to get musicians together to collaborate because I know how much of a struggle it can be to get the right people for that right sound. So I’m going out to physically look for them at open mics, city festivals, and local shows. My life revolves around music and lately it hasn’t been a priority, but I’m trying to change that this year. I will also be releasing my very first solo song on February 1st under the name Kid Drop Out. I will be going back to my roots of alternative hip hop, jazz, alternative rock and indie pop. I’m still working out the kinks with some friends who are producers. I am also trying to put more hours at Academy, back in my college town up in Huntsville, to be able to pay for gas when I come down to Houston to try to make my goals come true. I’ll have to juggle music, work, and school in 2 different cities, but I wouldn’t have it any other way, because I love being busy. I want to get closer with people I used to be in touch with when I was younger as well. I miss a lot of them. I’m so grateful for the people I have in my life and I want more of those people in my life. I want to be that person, that younger me really needed back then.” -Dominique Serrano
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“This month I plan on saving more money and learning how to budget my expenses better going into 2019, because I feel like that’s something that I’ve personally been struggling with as of late. I want to save up money to do the things that are important to me.” Farrah Smithers
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“I’m starting the new year off just like any other day. I believe you should be constantly setting goals and using self-evaluation to see where to improve in life. This will benefit me by having a year of continuous self growth.” -Jasmine Gershanov
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“Going into 2019 I vow to surround myself with positive people and those who have positive vibes. I want to be a better me. My loyalty kept me in some situations that my common sense should have taken me out of.” -Gwendalyn Waddy
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Photographer’s Thoughts
What I have planned for the beginning of the year is to branch myself out some more. And what I mean by that is that I want for more people to know me and what I’m truly passionate about. In particular, I’d like to start getting this column out to as many people as possible through better advertisement so that more and more people will speak on it. I’m also going to be applying for many scholarships, as I feel my grades have gotten to a point to where I can really start going out and applying for the things that I really want to, school wise.
This was Lens of The People, a column dedicated to giving the Houston community a voice and a platform. Stay on the lookout for more, all made possible by The Forward Times!