It’s that time of year. The semester is over and people are headed home for the holidays to get a brief reprieve from the college grind. If you haven’t already received them, your grades will roll in and you’ll have a sense of how well you did academically this semester. If you were to receive grades in other areas of your life, what would your “GPA” be?
The nice thing about being in college is that every so often, you get the hit the pause button. Even if the world doesn’t stop completely, you do get a chance to slow things down and evaluate your progress. Here are a number of questions to consider as you contemplate your mid-year break and set yourself up for second semester success- and perhaps some purposeful 2010 goals:
Extracurricular Involvement
Are you involved? Are you over involved? What do you do for fun? Are you participating in something that is just plain fun? If not, why not? Are you participating in something that has an academic or career benefit? If not, why not? Are you in a traditionally defined leadership role? How are you meeting your civic and service responsibilities?
Personal Wellness
Are you exercising? Do you need to exercise more/less? Is your exercise balanced (i.e. cardio, flexibility and strength development)? Do you maintain a balanced diet? Do you eat breakfast daily? Do you smoke? Do you want to stop? Do you know how? Do you drink? Is it in moderation? Do you plan in advance for a designated driver when you do drink? How are you meeting your spiritual needs? Do you maintain a regular sleep/wake schedule? How many hours of sleep do you get each night? Is it enough for you?
Career Development
What’s your career plan? When was the last time you reviewed your plan? Are you on the right path with your classes and extracurricular involvement? How well is your academic plan supporting your career plan? Do you have the right major and minor(s)? With a little extra effort how could you set yourself apart? Are you on track for graduation (don’t wait for your senior year degree audit report)?
Relationship Building
What’s your social media footprint? Is it big enough? Is it too big? Is it well-maintained? Does it convey the message you want conveyed? When was the last time you scrubbed your picture tags, feeds and wall posts? Are you involved in meaningful relationships outside of the social media world? How are you developing your network? When was the last time you asked for an introduction or referral from a friend, family member or colleague? How are you nurturing those relationships? How often do you talk with loved ones? Is it enough? Is it too much? When did you last write a thank you note, take someone to lunch, etc?
…So how are you doing? Dwell in the possibility of this coming new year and make every day in 2010 a good day.
Author:
Mike Severy is the Director of Student Life at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. He views his work through the lens of student leadership development believing that students are developed over time through a series of meaningful experiences and that his role is to help students create and find the meaningful experiences in their lives. You can connect with Mike on Twitter (@MikeSevery).
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