As the spring semester comes to an end in one of the most uncertain times in recent history, I feel the same mounting pressures and stress that all college students face, as all plans have essentially run off course for an indefinite period of time. As a first-year student, it’s an especially unique time to reflect on how these past two semesters went and assess how I’m doing regarding my long-term goals.
While freshman year has been filled with beautiful moments of learning and bonding and failing, the worry in the back of a lot of students’ mind is whether we’ll be able to do everything we want to do. Whether people are pre-med, pre-graduate or just want to secure a job before graduating, the time between now and our graduation can feel overwhelming and fleeting at times. It feels like it was just yesterday that we stepped on campus for the first time and now, we have three weeks left of my freshman year.
For a lot of first-years, lofty goals are a defining feature of coming to college wide-eyed and ready to embark on something unforgettable. And in these moments of uncertainty, long-term goals can be a powerful guiding voice, providing us with a touch of reality and optimism and setting us back on course. But sometimes, they can also feel like pressure we’re exerting on ourselves early on.
As time settles and quietly slips by, fears of that first career fair and internship creep in. But from attending multiple workshops about managing this kind of stress, I’ve learned that writing down my goals and denoting multiple checkpoints along the way is a helpful way to make those dreams more tangible. Along with checkpoints to remind ourselves of our progress, it’s also essential and beneficial to our mental health to give ourselves room for change in case life decides a different path for me. Writing down goals is different than making a checklist of them. It takes away the pressure to check things off when you’ve barely even started.
If things happen to change, it doesn’t take away from what you used to dream for yourself. It’s a new challenge to overcome and learn from. Especially during this stressful time that no one planned for, I hope students can take a moment for themselves to rest and take care of themselves and their goals