I don’t know how many times I’ve managed to mention that I’m going to be a senior in college over the past few posts, but y’all this is a HUGE deal. I’m not really ready at this point to say goodbye to my life at Carolina. I am ready for all the memories and opportunities that are sure to come my way in the next 12 months. Goal setting is one of my favorite things to do. I love posting them on here because I feel like it helps me stay accountable. Ya know why I’ve marked so many things off my 101 in 1001 list because it’s on the internet for everyone to see.
I wouldn’t want to be lame and only mark off one or two things, ya know. I’ve pushed myself in such positive ways during my undergraduate year and I’m ready for my last year of growth. It’s senior year baby, now let’s do some goal digging.
Really dig deep and focus on healthy eating and making time to work out.
In 10-ish months, I’ll be setting sail on a Western Caribbean cruise with my family to celebrate my graduation, my brother’s high school graduation, and just treating ourselves to a nice wholesome family vacation before two of us aren’t at home anymore. YIKES.
I’d like to go into post grad life feeling and looking my best, so this next year I’m dedicating to healthy living. Let’s just think of this as a reminder of my New Year’s resolution which I was doing great with before coming to California. I’m ready to dive back into cooking and hitting the gym more frequently. Shoutout to Abigail for writing some workouts for me to start when I get back in the rhythm of things!
I have smaller mini goals set up because SMART goal setting is key, but overall I want to feel better. I always achieve that when I’m eating cleaner and staying active. So, that’s what I’m going to do. I’ll probably post some update posts every once and awhile. I also love watching cooking videos and grocery hauls on Youtube so you can expect more of those for sure!
Finish with Dean’s List both semesters.
Academics have always been kind of important to me. Even though my GPA is just 4 little numbers, I care way more about really putting my best effort into every class that I’m taking. Now, I’m higher up into my major classes and I love the specific subject material and really breaking the limits of what we know in chemistry. #Nerdalert
I’m really looking to explore some more hobbies outside of school, but this is more of a reminder to myself that school comes first and that I love learning! I’d really like to finish off my career with Dean’s List for another school year.
Continue in my research lab and dedicate myself to a project.
I’m finally feeling independence in my lab at school. I don’t live in fear of adding the wrong chemicals together and injuring myself on the job. Not that I ever really felt like that would happen because mandatory safety training, but I can be a Nervous Nelly. I’m super pumped to start in the lab this year and really challenge myself as a scientist, just like I’ve been doing all summer.
50% of research science is knowing the background and the other 50% is being able to design well thought out experiments. I’ve proven to be pretty good at that last piece, so I’d really like to keep pushing in that front of my career and really dedicate my time to a project that I love!
Have some fun.
I’m going to be super involved this year, and the more I think about it the more I’m concerned that I’ve taken too much on. BUT, then I remember I’ve really taken steps back in things that were never benefitting me in the first place and I just have less time to goof off. Trust me, I can waste a good chunk of time with friends just laughing and chatting away.
While I won’t have time to do that, I do want to make time to socialize and step away from all my professional and academic responsibilities. I want to set up coffee dates with my friends and go do photo shoots with bloggers. I recently discovered I love going to the movies solo {totally weird fact about me}, but it’s true. It’s senior year and I want to take in all the social things that come with that, and I’m so pumped. It’s nice to take a break every once and awhile.
Apply to Graduate School.
I love learning and pushing myself, and in my field, the next level of doing that is graduate school. This process is going to be reminiscent of my senior year in high school, but I think I’m much more relaxed about it because I’ve been preparing for these bad boys for months. I love to oversaturate my brain with information and have all my deadlines, test dates, and checkpoint organized and ready to go. Once I’ve completed this process, I’ll feel accomplished because I didn’t let my fear of being rejected keep me from going straight through from undergrad.
Travel.
I was bitten by a major travel bug at the beginning of the year and have been adding Google Flight alert notifications like a crazy person and I’m ready for next adventure. I loved visiting LA and it was nice to do a simple weekend trip. Next, on my list are Seattle and Nashville. So, I’m trying to fit those into my calendar. But, first I need time and money. HA.
I am living my best life when I’m traveling. There’s something so refreshing about experiencing everything for the first time. Also, I really get to practice my travel photography. I’m really trying to find what non-college posts I like most in the next year so that I have something to talk about when I’m in graduate school and need to stop talking about how to organize your dorm room. We’ll see, we’ll see.
Blog Consistently.
The craziest thing about this blog is how well it does when Hannah and I are consistent with posting and social media. We reach thousands of new people every day. That’s insane. This blog has done so much for me and I hope that it’s inspired you a little bit. But, it’s crazy hard to keep up with it in the semester because I just get tired. But, since being pretty much consistent with posting since May, I’ve realized two things.
It’s a lot easier to write posts when I actually like the topic or content. I cannot expect to kick out a post in 30 minutes on something where I have to force coherent sentences. I love these posts because I literally can whip out 1500 words in less than an hour. And, the even crazier part is that they are actually getting kind of popular. Why y’all care what my favorite food is and where I was last weekend is beyond me…. but, I’ll keep writing about it.
The second thing is that it’s okay for me to take a little break. Y’all won’t bring out the pitch forks and call for riots if I skip one post. So, there may be a couple weeks in the semester where I’m stressed and don’t want to be worried about a blog post, so you’ll only get my Friday Chit Chat. These are fun and I can definitely commit to doing 30 minutes of blogging every week. But, my more article like posts may have to be put on the back burner sometimes, especially when I’m not feeling inspired.
So, there ya have it. These are all my goals for senior year! Your questions this week:
1. What is one of your goals for the upcoming semester?
2. What year are you in school/what do you do for a living?
3. What was your favorite memory from this summer?
keep on keepin’ on,
