Well, another week has passed, which means that I’ve had another week to accomplish the three goals that I set for myself about two weeks ago. After writing the first sentence, I just realized how quickly that week went by. Wow! I’d say that I have yet again made progress towards accomplishing my goals, but that I m still far from totally accomplishing them; at least in my mind anyway. Luckily, I am patient and I don’t expect these goals to be completely accomplished any time soon.
I think that I’ll start off with the goal I think I have made the most measurable progress towards accomplishing; my goal of studying for classes. Last week I started making flash cards, which worked tremendously well, and will most likely continue to be one of my main methods of studying. I had also begun to type out notes on my laptop as I read through the chapters for certain classes. I mainly utilized this method for my Natural Resources and Statistics classes. I didn’t necessarily read the textbooks word for word, but I read through all of the vocabulary terms and typed out their definitions and any examples that I could use to more easily understand the terms. I had to type a little more for statistics, because there are so many more examples and therefore, more procedures. These notes have come in handy because I definitely think they help me to more easily retain information in comparison to just reading the textbooks.
As for my other two goals, I believe that I have even made progress towards accomplishing them. My second goal was to “be more open to others as well as comfortable with myself”. Once again, I feel as though progress towards this goal have mainly come in the form of the developing comfort between my roommate and I. The fact that I only have one roommate now definitely makes me feel much more comfortable, because it is a lot easier to get to know one person, rather than two people. Additionally, I have come to know my roommate better than I think I ever could have with yet another roommate along with us. Getting to know my roommate has made me more comfortable with myself, because we both can just be ourselves, due to the fact that we have already passed that initial awkward phase. We’re no longer afraid to be ourselves, which I think will help both of us throughout our college experience.
My third goal was to “clear my mind of negativity and focus on the positive”. I think it is particularly hard to gauge the progress I’ve made towards accomplishing this goal, but I can definitely say that I have been trying. I’d say that I have made progress, just by the fact that I am becoming more and more comfortable with college life. This means that I have gotten into my own routine, which leaves less time to think negative thoughts. I’ve been working out, much like I do at home, which has helped to clear my mind and maintain my sanity; so I’d definitely say that I’ve made progress there. Like I said, progress towards this goal is hard to measure, but I definitely think I’ve made progress. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to constantly clear my mind of negativity and focus on positive things, but I think that I’ve definitely done more of it, while here at college.
When I researched “being open-minded” I came across a funny quote that I just have to share. When you think of being open-minded, you think very deep thoughts, but this quote by Richard Dawkins brings a little levity to the situation. Mr. Dawkins says, “By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out.” I think this is true because you have to be open-minded, but at the same time, you have to know who you are and stay true to yourself. I’ll remember this as I go forward trying to accomplish my goals, especially my goal of being more open to others and comfortable with myself.
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