Second Semester Goals for Success

My second semester of college is less than a month away. As I finished up my first semester (which you can read all about here), I started to think about what I want to change next semester. There wasn’t much that stood out to me, but I was able to come up with some changes I would like to make. My second semester goals fall in to three categories: things I would like to continue with, changes I would like to make, and habits I hope to build.

Three things I’m happy I did last semester, that I intend to continue with:

1. Talk to my professors. I got to have some really interesting conversations from doing this, so of course I plan to continue with it!
2. Go to office hours. I went to office hours at some point for each of my professors at least twice, and I’m really happy that I did. This is a habit that I hope to keep up with, because I feel it benefitted me in the long run.
3. Prioritized my health. With every decision I make, and every opportunity that arises, I have to consider my health in that moment and how what I plan or hope to do would impact it. I would not have been successful last semester if I hadn’t done this, not by a long shot. To stay in school and be successful, my health must be my priority over everything else.

Three changes to make this semester:

1. Organizing and structuring time more stringently. In the weeks where it feels like everything is due, I usually just start working on something and don’t stop until it is done. In reflection, there are little pockets of time I could have used more efficiently. I didn’t want to start something I couldn’t finish in that sitting, and I should change this. Breaking things up more so that I can do a piece of something in a 30 or 45 minute space I have open will allow me to save time, and finish faster, leaving me with more time to sleep. Isn’t that what everyone wants?
2. Reaching out to people in my classes. My university has a program for all first years where you have an enrichment hour each week and take a course in both the fall and spring semester with the same group of students. We also do fall welcome weekend in this group, and have events and field trips throughout the year. As a result, most of the people I hung out with were in this class, and I didn’t really reach out to people in my other courses. Next semester, I hope to change this. I want to get to know more people, and this should also bring new opportunities too.
3. Get all of the tater tots I want and not be concerned with glares from the people around or behind me in line. This may seem extremely trivial, but it happened more times than I would like to admit. Our dinners are “all you care to eat” and inevitably if I were to be in line and start getting tater tots, I would always leave with less than I wanted if there were other students behind me waiting. This semester, I want to make a conscious choice to not care if the people behind me are annoyed that I want more tater tots. They’ll have to deal with it. After all – they’re one of the only unhealthyish foods I can have with my allergies!

Two habits to build:

1. Wake up around the same time everyday. There will always be special exceptions where sleeping in is a necessity, or the days where my body is so worn out I may not be able to get out of bed. If it is not one of those days, I intend to wake up within an hour window everyday. I’m hoping that this will help my insomnia, and make waking up easier.
2. Keep up with my to-do list. Whenever I start to feel overwhelmed, I make a to-do list. The problem? I only do this when I’m starting to feel overwhelmed, or there’s a lot on my plate. Breaking down my assignments and putting them into a to-do list is something I want to try making a habit of, no matter how much I have going on. I think this will help me to make better use of my time, and keep the overwhelm from beginning. I have a ton of fun to-do list notepads, so this shouldn’t be too difficult!

There you have it! 8 second semester goals.

While I don’t know how this semester will go, I hope it will be even better than the last! I’m excited to see how my campus will come to life in the spring. We have a ton of green space, and it’s always beautiful! But spring should be spectacular. That should mean more time spent outside, and more photos. Two things I can totally get behind! Are you setting goals this semester? Let me know what you’re hoping to achieve in the comments! I’d love to hear from you.