When I haven’t been watching college football games with my dad or shows on Netflix I’ve been thinking about the new year and what I want out of it. I accomplished a lot and have some fond memories from 2016, but looking back there was some things missing that would’ve made it a great year. I spent a lot of time last year focusing on what others wanted from me instead of what I wanted for myself. Going to meetings for my faith based immersion program last semester, helped me to realize that one of the things I was missing was devoting time to myself for meditation and prayer. I’ve been over involved the moment I started college, but I’ve been pretty good at managing my time and find it beneficial in that it requires me to prioritize assignments, however, I haven’t had the chance to do a lot of things purely for myself in the past year. Each involvement and experience I chose to be a part of was essentially for other people I wanted to help or people I wanted to impress such as potential employers for internships. A resolution of sorts that I have is to reserve time for myself to engage in the activities and experiences I want to be a part of. I don’t usually make resolutions because I find them to often be to grandiose to achieve, but my plan is to set up a series of small goals to achieve my overarching objective.
Starting this Friday when I leave with my immersion group for the country of Belize as part of a week and a half long program, I plan on focusing on how the experience will shape me as a person spiritually and emotionally. When I return to campus, I’m still going to be a part of the clubs and programs I was a part of last year, but I will focus on what I want out of the rest of my junior year including the friendships I want to cultivate, excitement I want to experience, and the development I want out of my courses. I’m trying my best not to sound egotistical, but I want to make this year the one where I choose the involvements and experiences I have instead of choosing what others want me to do. 2017 is going to be a major milestone year in my life being that I will turn 21 this summer, if everything goes right have an internship, and will be a step closer to graduation after this upcoming semester. Before I dive into what will most likely being a hectic senior year, I want to truly enjoy my last semester of junior year with a healthy blend of seriousness in academics and career preparation and tomfoolery outside of the classroom before I devote myself to the next level.