As the semester crosses its T's and dots its I's, it throws out the last pages of notes it spent hours memorizing. Glossed in highlighter yellow, smudged in ink, these notes are at the end of their life, and soon begin another in the trashcan at the back of your apartment. But what these notes did for the one studying them is more valuable than a letter grade. It's during this time in the semester that a student needs to take a moment to reflect on the change that's occurred during a short four months. Because though you may not remember all the causes of World War Two by the beginning of the spring semester, there are lessons between those pages of notes that will help you throughout all stages of life.
Reflection is important for many reasons, namely, realizing and internalizing the lessons you've learned, but also to take notice at how much change has occurred. College is one of the few times that lessons and stages are split up into four month segments, giving the student the ability to easily practice a new skill every semester—of course, depending on the opportunities that arise. I hope the future continues to bring this rate of change, though I think it's unique to college, and therefore should be taken advantage of while you can. Depending upon career, there may be less opportunities for personal growth like the ones experienced in college. Reflection then is important now, but will be more important practice in the future if one does not have the opportunities to grow. Reflection will allow you to tease out everything you can from minimally valuable experiences. And, will allow one to continue practicing critical thinking skills to remain in a growth mindset.
During these four month periods of growth, lesson learning, and skill acquiring, one of the defining lessons I’ve discovered is the ability to fail. For failure is a skill, and only remains failure when it is not reflected upon, as I believe reflection will always bring growth. For with reflection, one is able to realize their mistakes, and change them. Some like to down grade this as "learning opportunities" but I think this demotes the skill that builds from this practice.
There are small ways to begin to understand failure as a skill. The class presentation you gave where you stumbled over your words or paused for a minute are small examples of failure. And if reflected on, become practice for the possibility of larger failures in the future. With practice one uses these failures as examples for success. As well, this builds a resilient, learning mindset. College is unique in building this, for the small opportunities of failure are everywhere in the day to day agenda of college life. Within my own semester, from the interviews to the sloppy presentations or difficult group work, these have all become experiences I’ve learned from.
As you leave the stress of this semester behind, and as you look into the prospects of the next semester, remember that reflection is a tool for life-long learning. And is a skill that can be easily cultivated while in college, but will reap valuable benefits after school.
