New (school) year, new you:

On the school year and what Manila’s celebrities and creatives want to do differently this time around

There are many moments in life that will help mold our future selves. Birthdays are a given; it’s the start of another year of our existence. How you spend your birthday will set the tone for the next 365 days. This principle is also applicable to New Year’s, at least according to my grade school teacher. “How and with whom you spend your New Year’s Day is how and with whom you will spend the rest of the year with,” she said. That really stuck to my nine-year-old brain so I tried to spend January 1 surrounded by my family, dogs, and plates of tuna spaghetti.

Just like New Year’s and birthdays, how you start the school year is as important, if not more. Think about it: if you dread the following school year, you’ll spend the rest of the year hating schoolwork and not paying attention in class. On the other hand, if you build up the excitement ahead of the school year, you will spend the year with enough gusto to get you through your classes and org work.

Nothing sets the mood for the new academic year than a good trip to the bookstore. It’s a longstanding tradition: backto-school trips to National Book Store with your mom and friends to shop for fresh pads of paper and pristine boxes of crayons. I can still remember squeezing through the crowd inside the store, making new friends while deciding which celebrity-designed notebook would match my pencil case better. Nothing beats a good set of school supplies to motivate you in school. I guess my teacher was right, how you start your year –– New Year’s, birthday or school year –– will really set the tone for the next 365 days.

Looking at National Book Store’s collection now, the students have got it good. From Kuretake pens to a fine selection of Leuchtturm notebooks to cute ban.do tumblers, National Book Store offers all the essentials (and motivation) for the year to come. In the spirit of new beginnings, we asked some incoming students, parents and even fresh graduates about what they want to do –– or wish they’ll do –– during the start of a new school year.