By Audrey VanVenRoy
A new semester is now coming upon us, and it’s become somewhat terrifying for many of us, I’m sure. New courses, new clubs, new whatever-it-is, but somehow still feeling very similar to the last semester. If you were already here back then, I mean. If you haven’t really been here a while, it might feel a little disorienting, like diving into an icy pool for the first time. This is a completely valid feeling, and people who have been here for multiple grades might feel similarly, including me. However, many things can be spinned into a new perspective, more specifically a positive one. For example, a new semester doesn’t exactly have to mean more schoolwork, more deadlines, and more suffering from the crushing weight of the responsibilities pushed onto you as a teenager, as you slowly grow into a young adult. It can also mean more learning opportunities and overall character development, along with getting a fresh start! And so, because of this realization, I will be finding something to improve on this year!
There are a long list of options that I can pick from in the book of traits that I have that I really need to improve over time, like my struggle with time management, or my minimal amount of participation in live lessons, but the one that I want to focus on the most is my motivation, which is usually at the source of these other problems. If I can improve my motivation in my courses, then I can learn to actually get my assignments done quickly rather than waiting to get them done near the end of the week or during the weekend. Because of my lack of motivation to get things done quickly, I need to learn to motivate myself to do my work so I can see my schoolwork as more of a priority. This is something I also have to do for my human communications course that I’m taking this semester. Since it’s self-paced, it doesn’t have any deadlines, so I need to count on myself to make good use of my time and motivate myself to do it even if I don’t have any strict deadlines for when to do my work.
What I plan to do differently this semester is to learn to motivate myself to complete my assignments in a timely manner along with making sure that I am working ahead and that I don’t end up falling behind. If I work ahead, then that means my parents won’t get a notice of a missing assignment on the progress report they get sent every week, even if I fall behind a bit, so they won’t be asking me questions about why I have missing assignments and then start lecturing me about time management! If your parents do that too, then I’d strongly recommend working ahead! I also recommend having a positive mindset whenever going into schoolwork and tests, as to not let your mental health deplete. Also, if you believe that you can do it, chances are, you have the capacity and ability to be able to do it. If you don’t believe that you can do it, then your mindset is going to stop you from being able to do it. That is why you need to keep a positive mindset, whether in doing schoolwork or studying for tests. That is what I plan to do differently this semester to help my motivation.
You see, everyone has the capacity to grow and improve, but in the end, no one can achieve perfection. Though I can certainly try to improve my motivation for doing schoolwork and fix my time management as a result of that, I know that I am not perfect, and I will never be perfect, so I can’t put too high of a standard on myself. That is something everyone needs to know and keep in mind. That way, they can go easy on themselves and not force themselves to be something that’s unachievable for anyone. In addition to that, remember that us students are still young. We’re not going to be perfect individuals right out of the gate, and we’re still not going to be perfect individuals even if we live to old age. There are plenty of older people out there who are…decidedly not very perfect. That being said, life still has a lot to offer, and it can help us become better people, if we let ourselves receive it. That is why the most important thing is to focus on progress, not perfection.
