For the past three weeks, I have been on Christmas break. Now to the regular undergraduate student, break is a time when you go home for too long and then, after catching up on all your Netflix shows and doing your laundry for free, you dream of going back to school to get away from your parents’ rules and oppressive dictatorship. Because I am no longer I carefree undergraduate student, my winter break consisted of me doing any and everything I can’t do when I’m in dental school/jail. For me that consisted of indulging in ridiculous amounts of mental and physical rest (aka Grey’s Anatomy), chilling with my two doggies and catching up with friends from college and high school simply because I’d been so isolated from them for what felt like forever.
While I was on break, I had time to do whatever I wanted, but a question that kept resurfacing in my mind was “what are you going to do next semester to improve?” Although I have a competitive nature, I’m most competitive with myself. I love looking back at where I was a week, a month, or even a year prior and evaluating how I’ve progressed.
New year’s resolutions seem corny to me, so let’s skip that and focus on concrete goals for the not too distant future. With that being said, here are my objectives for the next semester and all the ways I will be able to achieve them (because a goal without a plan is just a dream).
1. Make an A or 2
I presume this is going to get done by being proactive with my studying and not waiting until the weekend before a test to start reviewing material. As previously mentioned, I am a master procrastinator and the success I’ve had thus far only fuels my procrastination powers. However, I am now ready and willing to change my ways (ya we’ll see).
2. Secure a summer research position
Global health is a huge field, and I’m doing my best to break into its dentistry realm. Although I know global travel isn’t realistic for me at this time, I wouldn’t be opposed to some domestic adventuring. There are countless research positions for dental and medical students around the country, and I’d be happy to go anywhere unfamiliar to gain new experiences both dental and otherwise.
3. Go to the gym at least once a week
I’m an exponentially happier person when I am working out ((that may be the reason I was absolutely miserable my first semester of dental school, but I digress)). For the majority of my college career, I was forced to workout because of volleyball, but now I just talk myself out of going to the gym after class. As dental students, we are required to get a membership to Gold’s Gym. The Gold’s on campus is surprisingly nice, so I plan on joining a workout class and getting back into weight lifting.
So that’s it; only 3 goals, but they are attainable and important. Being deliberate will get me to where I want to be and hopefully help me conjure up more ambitions for the following semester too.
Peace and Blessings and Happy New Year,
Joi the DS