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Wellness > Mental Health

New (School) Year, New Me?: The Art of Reinvention

Maia de Borja
Robin Andrews
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Alberta chapter.

Who do you want to be this year?

Do you want to be the girl who shows up to her early morning classes in a bomb outfit and looking fully rested? Or perhaps you’d rather be the girl who isn’t afraid to speak up in class? Maybe you want to be the girl who runs into a friend everywhere she goes and constantly makes new ones too? Or maybe you just want to be the girl who makes it through the semester with minimal mental breakdowns and still manages to get her butt into the gym a couple times a week?

Regardless of what version of you that you want to be, the start of a new year, academic or regular, serves to motivate and inspire those who are looking for an excuse to change something about themselves. These changes manifest in the form of resolutions but, unfortunately, sometimes they remain just that – a spoken goal without much of a plan. Reinventing one’s self requires steps past the visualization stage, but few maintain the same level of motivation or they simply lack the knowledge that will lead them towards their ideal self.

So, how do you move past dreaming and start becoming? Try some of the following things that have helped me become a person that I don’t mind talking about:

  •  First of all, continue to visualize. You can’t have a plan without a goal to initiate it. Make a list, a vision board, or a mind map to figure out your priorities and key aspects of your life that you want to work on.
  •  Write down your goals! It’s one thing to say something but writing it down is almost like a contract between present you and future you. This way, when you look back at your goals you can congratulate yourself on your journey and re-structure your plans to continue to grow.
  • Do research! Whether you want to learn a new skill or expand your social circle, the internet is an amazing place to start. From YouTube, to clubs on campus, there are countless resources and people out there that can help you on your journey – you just have to find them! (and Her Campus @ UAlberta is always recruiting!)
  • Take it slowly! Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will your new-and- improved self. No matter how many guided meditations a night owl does or how many articles they read, they won’t turn into a morning person overnight (because they’re probably still awake!) In all seriousness though, don’t be too hard on yourself if you find that you can’t shake off old habits or you have a hard time maintaining new ones. Accomplishing even just a single thing, one day at a time will get you there.
Maia de Borja

U Alberta '21

Maia (my-uh) is in her fourth year at the University of Alberta. She is working towards a Bachelor of Secondary Education with a major in English and minor in ESL. In her spare time you can find Maia studying with a chai latte close by, at the gym, at one of her three part time jobs,volunteering or exploring town with her boyfriend and friends (usually in the pursuit of good food!) You can follow her on Instagram at @maiadeborja
Robin is a senior student at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta. She is getting a Science Degree, with a Psychology major and a double minor in Sociology & Biology. Part-time jobs, full-time classes, various student groups and volunteering fill most of her time. Robin is the 2020/2021 President of Her Campus at UAlberta and served as the social media director for the 2018/2019 year!