Happy New Year! again.

Happy Feb. 24! Have you made your resolutions?

What?

I’m almost two months late?

Whatever.

For those of you who got around to resolving something starting Jan. 1, more than one-third of you gave up before the calendar flipped to February. And most of the rest of you won’t make it much longer. In fact, less than one-quarter will make it at all.

What an upper, right?

I think one of the problems with New Year’s Resolutions is the timing. What if I don’t want to start on the first day of a new year? What if I’m not ready? What if I was ready a month ago? What if I’m still so full of holiday goodies that I haven’t quite emerged from my food coma?

There are certainly strategies for keeping your annual promises to yourself.

But I’m much more of a fan of making resolutions on the fly. I can’t stick to them for a year. Things change. Priorities change. What if I have way bigger problems than a stubborn 5 or 10 pounds by July? So I’m a constant re-evaluator, and so what if it took me ‘til February to get started. If I had gone for it half-a***d on Jan. 1, it would be over by now anyway.

The common piece of expert advice I do take to heart is setting specific goals. “Lose weight” means nothing to me. Even “Lose 10 pounds” is pushing it. But “Work out six days a week: two days swimming, two days lifting and two days running” just might work.

I challenge you to go back to your resolutions – for most people, the ones that probably aren’t happening at the moment – and rework them into something doable. And think about what you actually want to do or change right now. New Year's is arbitrary. A new semester is just as good. Or a new week. Or a new day.

Now that I'm about one-third of the way into a killer semester of grad school, I'm in need of some motivation, goals...aaand probably an attitude adjustment some days. So I'm resolving now because I feel like it, and while I'll leave all the messy details to the imagination, I will be doing my best to do a marathon (or half?) and/or triathlon, get some more of my stories in the paper, not fail my classes (*cough* biostats II *cough*) and preferably reduce the total number of meltdowns caused by aforementioned items.

Are you trading in your New Year's resolutions for some new ones? What are they? And do you think you'll be better able to hang onto them if you make them whenever you feel like it?

Q & A installment 1: AmeriCorps, the economy & applications

Have a question for next week? Post it in the comments or email healthnutsblog@gmail.com.

-----------------------------------------------------

I've been looking at information about AmeriCorps, but I still don't quite get the different programs and what volunteers do. You were in it for a year after college, right? Can you explain? -Jana

Yes! Well...sort of. It's confusing, trust me -- and I even lived it for a year. Think of AmeriCorps as the umbrella. You can't just serve in AmeriCorps; you have to be in a specific program that falls under it. Read about AC State and National, NCCC and VISTA and see which seems to fit you best. There are even some super-specific sub-programs such as Promise Fellows (focuses on youth) that you might come across.

I did the VISTA program, which for the most part places volunteers in fulltime, year-long positions with community nonprofit organizations whose work helps alleviate poverty. The positions are designed to build organizational capacity, not provide direct service to clients. Buuut the rules aren't solid: Programs can be indirectly related to poverty reduction and may have direct service components.

Here are some from-experience tips for getting started on the AmeriCorps search:

- The position search on their website sucks. Use it anyway, but search expired positions for ideas and contact organizations directly. They post new positions really late sometimes, but often if there is a volunteer in a specific position right now, there will be another one in the future.

- Don't just search AmeriCorps for positions, search positions for AmeriCorps. Poetic, I know, but really. Want to work for a specific organization or type of organization? Go to their website and look for evidence of AmeriCorps involvement, or contact them directly and ask whether they host volunteers and/or know any other organizations in their field that do.

- Remember it's a real job. Don't get cocky -- just because there's not much money involved doesn't mean AmeriCorps positions aren't competitive. I was part of the hiring process for my VISTA replacement, and we got a ton of applications, several from people with advanced degrees, many years of experience and a heck of a lot more to offer than I did. As the job market shrinks, I think the demand for these positions -- which are guaranteed for a year and come with benefits -- will grow, so it might even get more "real." Anyway, take it seriously. Proofread everything. Practice for your interview.

I graduate in May, and the job market obviously sucks. Should I just plan on moving back in with my parents and doing nothing for a while? -Nate

It does suck. But it doesn't mean you have to become one with the couch by mid-summer. First, let me just say that you might get a job. Don't give up before you even start. People are still retiring and getting promoted and making horizontal moves -- so positions are still opening up.

But if it doesn't go well...

It's the perfect time to travel if you've always wanted to backpack Europe or car-trip the U.S. (you don't get graduation money for nothing!). And yes, maybe a good time to think about crashing with the family. But even if you can't quite afford your own place and the job thing's not looking good, you can still get a lot of great experience. I think the best thing you can do is get an internship or volunteer opportunity at a place you'd love to work in the future. Even if they can't pay you, you'll be valuable -- especially when many places are forced to do layoffs and are probably dealing with the same workload but fewer workers. How could they say no? And when the economy recovers, you're going to be in a great position to get hired.

Another thing to think about is school. Might you want to do more in a year or two? It might be worth doing it now. Enrollment in colleges and universities is going up as the economy goes down because, hey, if you can't get a job anyway, at least you'll be more marketable -- and worth more financially -- in a couple years when you finish and the job situation is better. I didn't decide to go to grad school because of the economy, but now that I'm here, I'm very glad I did.

I look at job postings all the time but is it too early to actually apply for a job when I don't graduate for three more months? -Meghan

Maybe, but that shouldn't stop you. Unfortunately because, as stated above, The Economy Sucks, employers can be extremely picky. If they want someone to start in two weeks, they can easily narrow down the pool to only those who can start in two weeks -- and still have plenty of people to choose from. 

So while employers are probably not currently posting positions they want filled in June, it's always worth getting your name in someone's head. Just don't lead them to believe you can start next Monday if you can't do it. Be clear in your cover letter: Even if they can't wait, they may keep you in mind for another position in the future if they like your application. 

I even sent in a letter for a job that started months to early and, instead of saying "I'd like to apply for the blah blah position..." I basically said, I know it's too early but I think this job is perfect for me. Please let me know if anything like it comes up this summer. I didn't end up going to work there but made a great contact.

Need some get-hired tips, for now or in the future? Check out some healthcare-specific tips from Experience. Keywords: volunteer, train and diversify.

Burningkarma, thanks for the photo!

Grill me.

All right, health nuts -- it's time to ask your burning questions.

What's up with the job market? Am I going to be a hobo?

Do I really need to go to even more school?

I really want to be a **insert profession here**. How do I do that?

Is being all grown up really all it's cracked up to be?

How do you know anything about any of this anyway?

Actually, I'll take that last one now.

I don't, by any means, claim to be an expert on any of this. But I've done a lot of stuff, screwed up a lot of stuff and learned a lot of stuff -- and I'm currently very happy about how it's all turned out. Plus, I know lots of people doing lots of different things who've probably screwed up less than I have, and I'll most certainly be consulting them to get you the best possible answers to your questions.

I'll answer a question or two or three periodically here on Health Nuts, so stay tuned.

Post your questions in the comments or email them to healthnutsblog@gmail.com.

Coming soon to a blog near you

When people ask me whether I like surprises, I automatically answer yes.

I lie.

It seems like the right answer to that question, but you know, I'm a big fan of getting excited about things -- and you can't get excited if you don't know they're coming!

In that spirit, I want to clue you in on some fun stuff coming to Health Nuts in the next few weeks:

• A health Q-and-A-o-rama -- careers, school, life, you name it! (Start your question-generating engines...)
  
• Why New Year's resolutions shouldn't start until at least February
• A fabulous med-school guest post from a fabulous doctor-to-be
• Twittering your way to health (or at least knowing about it)

Anything else in particular you want to see? Any specific topics? Features? Video of my first ballet recital? Comment your heart out.

Peanuts, parents & participatory public health

I am a news nerd. Granted I am paid to be one -- my research assistant position involves reading or watching health news every weekday of my life. But it's my nature, too. I hate not knowing what's going on. So trust me, when I find out a day late that a study came out suggesting a link between premature births and autism, it's as upsetting as finding out from Facebook that a high-school friend is pregnant.

But I also like gluing myself to the news because it makes me think about all kinds of things I'd never encounter on a daily basis, including cool health careers. 

When you don't know what to do with your life, trust me, you're always looking for inspiration -- and I promise this works.

Extra, extra: Peanuts are problematic

We all know peanut products are causing a news-o-rama with their salmonella scare, especially since discovering schools are among recipients of vats of possibly contaminated with PB. 

Wanted: Diarrhea detectives

Ever thought about being an epidemiologist? They're pretty cool, especially members of Minnesota's Team Diarrhea who cracked the jalapeno-salmonella case this summer and have been working tirelessly on this PB problem.

Extra, extra: Your parents were right

An apple a day will get you an A...sort of. Research shows that the healthier you are, the better you do in school -- and, from personal experience, I agree, especially when it comes to non-physical stuff that has physical effects (read: STRESS).

Wanted: Tactful teachers

Well, we can't just let all the poor students of the world get crappy grades, can we? There are lots of health educators in the world who do individual interventions that help people change unhealthy behaviors -- like drinking all weekend, smoking because you're drunk and totally stressing about your homework on Monday morning because you spent all of Sunday in bed recovering. Or how to buy and prepare healthy foods when you're living on a tight budget. Or where to go for medical care and how to pay for it. The list goes on.

Extra, extra: Say how you feel about flu

Minnesota's working on a new pandemic flu plan and guess what -- you're invited! The state is asking for input on the ethics part, as in who gets limited resources and who gets them first if the flu goes on a major rampage? They've posted the state recommendations and are asking the public to submit their comments for the next couple months, and then they'll incorporate them into the final plan. Cool, huh?

Wanted:  Outreach extraordinaires

From what I can tell in my education, it's becoming more and more important in public health to involve people and communities in what's going on that will affect their health. And somebody's gotta ask them -- might as well be you! There's not a specific field, I don't think, that does this, but if it's something you're interested in (I am!) and you start looking for it, this type of thing will pop up in a lot of different settings.