September 3, 2015

Goals & plans

With the new academic year just around the corner for university students (and school starting for younger students), I decided to write this post about my personal goals and plans for my next university year. I feel like writing about it, would really help motivate me to keep my mind straight on what I really want to do to ensure I make the most out of my university year. Hopefully, this gives you inspiration and an insight on how to make the most out of not just your academic year but in life too.

Flashback to my first year at university: I didn’t do much but attend lectures, lab sessions and some social commitments. Now that I look back, I wish I could’ve done a lot more activities that helped with my personal development. One of the many great things about university is the wide range of activities going on almost constantly! I wish I took advantage of all the many great things in store during my first year but I was very strict with myself due to time management of my studies and part time job which occupied most of my time when I wasn’t studying.

I slowly started to realise during the end my exams that I didn’t really do anything different to what I usually did during my school days (apart from the part time job) and soon I realised that I was unhappy. I studied, yes. I passed my first year, yes. But lacked the energy that I saw in other people who were more involved in extra activities to keep them sane. I felt a bit more “dull” compared to others and felt very negative and the same – experiencing the same things and not allowing change because of the fear of failure. I could see them developing more and really making the most of the short life we have.

This post really explains what I’m attempting to get at, it opens my mind to extra possibilities that I want to do and start now. I recommend you guys take a quick read – especially students who are like me 😉

So, I plan on changing my routine for the new academic year, in order to include more time in developing myself to become better than I was yesterday by learning new things and stepping away from my comfort zone. Below are some things I want to participate in/do in order to make the most of my time at uni – I’m only a student once so why not make it a blast! (Bearing in mind that your university or local area may have similar opportunities that you could search yourself!)

• Internationalism – Participate in the weekly cultural talks to find out more about different cultures and being a local student who grew up in the UK, maybe help international students with their transition to adjust with the culture here.
• Participate in a personal finance module; it helps students become more aware of how they spend their money and other related topics that would help the move from student life to working adult life. A skill I personally need to develop!
• Join an online course and stick to the 3 weeks of learning things about the “real” world.
• Join skills for change – a group that focuses on developing skills through fun activities!
• Learn a new language: thinking of German.
• Join a society and be an active member of it instead of just being in the background. Maybe run as one of the positions in a society during the societal elections.
• Attend skill-based workshops at least 3 times each semester.
• Volunteer and campaign – I haven’t volunteered in 2 years!
• Play or learn a new sport (I’m thinking of netball)
• Stay happy and enthusiastic with everything you do.
• Surround yourself with positive people. This is a must. Mimi Ikonn has such a great video about this, it really really helps with everyday life.
• S L E E P, for goodness sake! I never slept well during the year resulting in lack of motivation to do many other activities

Hope this inspired some of you to thrive at your studies as well as other activities. Balance and happiness are key! It’s cheesy but you can become the best you can be (if you got the Pokemon theme tune stuck in your head now, I’m sorry. LOL.) by pushing yourself to get out of the comfort zone in order to experience new and exciting things. Do you have an activity (or activities!) that you do regularly? Or have any plans to join any societies/groups during your university/college year? And do they help with your personal development? I’d like to know!

Good luck!