Since the first semester of my Junior year is almost over, I wanted to write a little reflection article about the things that I've learned. This semester went by so fast and it wasn't an easy semester but I'm holding on. Here's what I learned from my first semester of my Junior year:
It’s okay, plans change. Accept it.
My plans changed over the summer and into my Junior year and that's okay. I still don't know exactly what my plan is or what my future job is but I'm doing the best I can. It was super hard for me to accept that I won't be majoring in education anymore but with that loss came some blessings. I'm still super happy for all my friends in the education program and I wish them all the best even though I won't be involved in that anymore. Sociology is super diverse, and it opens up a lot of doors for me. I think I'm going to declare a minor next semester in criminal justice because I'm super interested in that and see where that takes me.
Self-care is SUPER important.
It's so important to take a break from studying even for a couple of minutes or maybe two hours just to regroup. When I am in deep studying mode I can't really relax until I feel like everything is done and that doesn't work out in college. I usually come home from classes, study for two hours, eat dinner, study some more, take a shower, study and then go to sleep. That's my life on repeat.
Write everything down, even if it’s not that important
This past semester I had way too much stuff to remember and I was sometimes super forgetful, so I wrote everything down in my planner. This helped me to start working on the next weeks' work and I knew exactly what was coming up in each of my classes. I was never blindsided by a test and I usually had an entire week to study.
I will soon be done with gen-eds. It’s almost over.
It's no surprise that I was behind in classes, but honestly who graduates in exactly four years without taking 15-18 credit hours a semester? That's really difficult. I figured out this semester that my mental state matters a lot more than classes sometimes. I'd rather get four A's in my classes than take five classes and get C's or D's. And eventually, I will be able to take the classes that I want and focus on the things that I'm interested in. General education classes won't last forever, I promise.
College won’t last forever either but the student debt will.
I need to enjoy my time in college. Not that I wasn't enjoying it before, but the stress doesn't help. I spend so many hours of my life studying and focusing on school that sometimes I forget what my end goal is (which I don't necessarily know yet but still). I'm going to college to get a good education and a degree in a field that I'm interested in so that I can get a good paying job and love what I do. I'm focusing on those goals. I'll pay off my loans one day, just right now it's about getting through school. BOOMER!
Photo by 
Photo by 
Photo by 
Photo by 
people sitting on chair in front of computer
all stars lol GIF by Lifetime
two women talking while looking at laptop computerPhoto by 
shallow focus photography of two boys doing wacky facesPhoto by 
happy birthday balloons with happy birthday textPhoto by 
itty-bitty living space." | The Genie shows Aladdin how… | Flickr
shallow focus photography of dog and catPhoto by 
yellow Volkswagen van on roadPhoto by 
orange i have a crush on you neon light signagePhoto by 
5 Tattoos Artist That Will Make You Want A Tattoo
woman biting pencil while sitting on chair in front of computer during daytimePhoto by 
a scrabbled wooden block spelling the word prizePhoto by 
StableDiffusion
StableDiffusion
StableDiffusion
women sitting on rock near body of waterPhoto by 
