Reflect and Take It All In

It is the end of the semester, and we are all preparing for all our exams, projects, and assignments that are all creeping up on us. Preparing to take summer classes or just take the summer off. Not to mention all the non-educational factors that must be thought out and planned like “When is my last day for the semester?” “What day should I drive home?” “Do I have enough boxes for all of my things?” “What are my summer plans?” All the questions that are very personalized to you, what is it that you are thinking about and planning for? It is totally okay to not have it all figured out.

Everything eventually falls into place, just don’t wait for the last minute to decide on the important things. Take a moment to reflect on your year here at McMurry University, it may have turned out exactly how you planned or not at all what you thought it would be. Take it all in the good, the bad, the terrible, and the amazing everything you went through got you here to this moment. You made it through. You can take a moment to appreciate all the good in your life and build gratitude to have a more positive outlook on life. You can now realize there have been times where you were happy throughout this school year and times where you were struggling.

Whether it is your freshman year or your senior year you made it through to the end and all you have to do is push through the next week and you will be able to enjoy the break you have been waiting for. Reflection on the past year will help you with several things, the process of reflection can benefit your personal growth. It helps us to learn from the mistakes we have made and eventually leads to our overall improvement of ourselves. Another benefit of reflection is that you can process everything that you went through and manage the emotions that you are feeling. Reflection can make you self-aware which is what we need at times, understanding ourselves and our motivations and behavior can help us to make more conscious decisions and take action that align with our values and goals. I think it is extremely important to reflect on all the things that you experienced throughout the year so that you can plan for an even more successful and productive year to come. It isn’t a bad idea to start thinking about how you want to better your experiences here at McMurry, maybe wait until finals are over but after that make a plan and stick to your academic, career, social, health and fitness, and personal goals. This will be beneficial for a successful start to next year.

Reflect on your year, take it all in, and be thankful for all of your experiences because they are what make you who you are.