My first day of classes is today (eek!), and as I was walking around campus last week watching all of the new freshmen arrive for the first time, the realization that I am about to start my junior year of college really hit me. Junior year means getting to really know my major, taking on leadership roles in my extracurriculars, and seriously planning for the future, all things that simultaneously excite and terrify me.
In the spirit of tradition, I came up with a list of goals for the upcoming semester that I hope to complete come December. I'm a firm believer in setting goals, as I feel that they serve as really powerful motivation to sort your life out and get the ball rolling!
Here are some of the goals that I've set for myself this semester:
1. Get A's in all of my courses.
Ah, the ever-elusive 4.0! I was so close to getting all A's last semester, but panic & cramming caused me to fall a little bit short during two of my final exams, leaving me with all A's and two B+s. Now I know that I shouldn't be too hard on myself, but a girl can dream, can't she?
This semester I'm taking four major-intensive classes, a journalism class, and an online business class, so I think this might be my hardest goal of all to achieve. I'm definitely going to have to learn how to juggle everything, and take the time to study for my classes every single day.
2. Establish a study routine
Speaking of studying, one of my goals this year is to be more firm in my study routine. During previous semesters, I would just try to get to my work whenever I could, and while I did okay with that method I think that carving out time during the week to devote to specific subjects is going to help me immensely with my productivity.
Plus, this semester I've taken on a ton of new activities - I'm on the executive board of a bunch of clubs, and I'm also going to be choreographing for the dance team! With all of that on my plate it's going to be more important than ever before to schedule and use my time wisely. I've started another Bullet Journal for this year in order to sort my life out and make sure I get all of this done, and I'm really excited about all of the new layouts & spreads that I'm planning to try!
3. Explore more!
One of my biggest regrets from the first half of my college experience is not taking the time to explore my area. I spend a lot of time on my campus and in my dorm building, but I don't really know the town around it as much as I would like to.
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| I already started on this goal - I took this at a new restaurant just a few blocks away from my dorm building!! (The food was good too btw) |
4. Make time for my relationships.
I don't know about you guys, but my college life is incredibly, insanely busy. Most of my free time is spent doing work, at meetings, or sleeping! As a result, I feel like I've been putting my relationships to the side, and that's something I'm determined to change this semester.
I'm committing myself to spending as much time as possible with the people that matter to me - my family, my boyfriend, and my close friends. That might sound a little bit silly, but I am a firm believer that relationships are important to keeping me sane, and I'm determined to maintain all of the friendships & relationships as best I can. A lot of my friends are graduating this year because of an accelerated program or simply because they're a year older than me, and I want to spend as much time with them as I possibly can. I'm hoping that this semester I'll take the time to grab coffee with my friends more often and catch up, or even travel to visit a friend at a different campus!
5. Work out every day.
I am absolutely terrible at maintaining consistency in a workout routine! The funny thing is, though, that I don't have any problems actually working out - the problem is getting there. It's like when you were a little kid and you didn't want to take a shower, but the minute you got in the shower you didn't want to get out. Yes, I am equating my workout journey with being a child, but I honestly couldn't think of a better analogy!
If I establish a routine and get into the habit of working out every morning, I know that my body will be eternally grateful to me, so that's what I'm going to try to do. If you have any workout tips, please feel free to leave them in the comments below - I'm going to need all the help I can get!
6. Post 2x a week on the blog, and 3x a week on Instagram.
I know that this resolution did not go over too well for me this summer, but hear me out guys - I think I am really capable of doing this as long as I take the time to work on my blog posts ahead of schedule, and hold myself accountable for this goal. Now that I've published it, you guys all know about it, and therefore I have to hold myself even more accountable so as not to let you wonderful people down :)
As for Instagram, I try my hardest not to let social media run my life, but after reading so many great posts about the importance of maintaining a consistent online presence when running a blog, I've decided to give this a go. Besides, I do love editing my Instagram posts - it's super therapeutic!!
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| Shameless self-promo: Follow me on Instagram!! |
7. Apply for study abroad
I was initially nervous about putting this on my blog, but here I am! I'm hoping to study abroad this spring semester in the UK, after two years (yes, I said two years) of looking into programs, saving up money, and speaking to my school's study abroad office.
The time has finally come for me to submit all of my applications and courses and hope for the best! My school's program requires three different applications, so this past month or so I have been working tirelessly to get all of my ducks in a row so that I can meet the quickly approaching deadline. Studying abroad has been a dream of mine since I was in middle school, so I really hope that it works out. Cross your fingers for me!
Final Thoughts
So there you have it - all of my goals are now out in the open for the internet to see. While that can be a little bit terrifying, I'm also excited for the semester to start and to try and make these goals a reality.
What are your goals this semester?
