After almost a week of settling into my dorm and seeing my friends, the time has come to officially begin another semester of college. Although I am excited to embrace all of the new opportunities that I am going to receive as a sophomore, I am also finding myself apprehensive that this year will be a carbon copy of my freshman year. During my freshman year, I was surrounded by an accepting community, a wonderful group of friends, and challenging classes, which I admittedly was very lucky to receive. However, there were many settings where I know I did not personally reach my full potential in many settings, which included the classroom, my extracurriculars, and my future.

With all of this in mind, I want to take all of the setbacks that I endured my freshman year to make my sophomore year more successful. The amount of work that is going to be involved may be arduous, but I hope that I will finally be able to look back upon this year with pride in myself after implementing and achieving these goals. This year, I hope to...

1. Take the initiative and volunteer on campus.

Last year, I took a service learning class where one of the requirements was to volunteer at a predestined location one day a week. Without that class, I would not have some of the experiences, vital life lessons, and friends that I know today. My college places a very heavy emphasis on the concept of solidarity and loving our neighbors, so I hope that I am able to find the motivation to reach out to one of the extracurricular service groups and embody my college’s ideals. My defined goal in relation to this is to volunteer at the local elementary school site so I can make a positive difference in the youth in my community.

2. Go above and beyond in terms of my academic performance.

Last year, I underestimated the amount of time I would have to spend on schoolwork and also procrastinated important assignments due to stress and other issues, which in turn hindered me from completing assignments to the best of my ability. This year, I hope that I can remedy that by completing homework the day that it is due, allotting myself more time in my schedule to solely focus on schoolwork, breaking up projects into manageable daily portions that I can accomplish, and taking advantage of any and all extra credit opportunities that are offered. I also want to speak up more both inside the classroom and during office hours, which I tended to avoid last year. While this personally seems like a lot for me to handle and remember, I know that there are resources available on campus for me to utilize for the ultimate amount of student success.

3. Strengthen the healthy relationships in my life.

My current platonic relationships and my insecurities can sometimes coincide; I believe that I get “attached” to people too quickly, which in turn leads to me feeling disappointed when those people subsequently do not reciprocate my affections. While it is difficult for me to maintain meaningful friendships, I want to try and recognize the friends who have always been there for me. I tend to be almost obstinate with people who I want to pursue deeper friendships with by consistently reaching out to them and initiating time together, but I know that I will eventually have to realize that relationships cannot be forced or all one-sided. This is definitely going to be a difficult lesson to learn, but I am lucky to have the wonderful friends that I currently do have by my side.

4. Manage my stress more effectively.

If I find myself burdened by a lot of homework, pressure, and activities in one week, I tend to implode instead of finding healthy ways to relieve my stress. Stress impacts my body and physical health in many ways, which is why I want to discover ways to manage my stress levels this year. While it is inevitable that I will experience stress, I can turn any nervous energy into exercising, journaling, or organizing, which will all ultimately benefit me more in the future than my current habits of overeating and escapism. I hope to physically and mentally feel better throughout the year and keep a journal that tracks this progress.

5. Find more creative outlets on and off campus.

While I am already a part of chapel choir, the literary magazine, and the school newspaper, I want to get more involved on campus and assess my creativity. I have definitely been struggling with my creativity lately, and since I will be taking a Creative Writing introductory class, I am worried that I will be unable to do assignments or reach my full potential. Some options that I can take advantage of on and off campus are clubs for new actors, local art museums and local places to perform poetry. Hopefully I can find a creative outlet that I am passionate about and easily able to perform, and I also hope to use this to become closer to finding a career.

While there are so many more goals that I could list here, I believe that these goals will be the most beneficial to me in the long run. It will take a lot of effort on my part; I know that I will have to get involved, get organized, and get better at managing my mental and physical health. However, I am very fortunate to receive the opportunity to even go to college, and I want to make the most of it for myself, my family, and my friends. I am looking forward to seeing my progress throughout the year, and I cannot wait to take advantage of all of the wonderful things waiting for me!