2021 New Year's Resolution For University

   Samudraki's Saturdays

Happy New Year to all my happy readers! 2020 taught me alot of life lessons since Covid-19 kept me at home and gave me lots of time to introspect. Thus, this year I want to make the best of 2021. With the vaccine distribution starting soon, hope is just on the horizon and we'll all finally wake up from this nightmarish pandemic that caused global havoc. 

This year I will be going back to university to pursue a master's degree at the University of Groningen in Chemical Engineering. Truth be told, this was never my life plan because I wanted to start working right after my bachelor's but companies became very selective and set new entry-level requirements such as having a masters degree. It took me a while to swallow that information, but I am definitely looking forward to expanding my knowledge in the field, making new friends and achieving personal growth. Besides, the pay hike between a bachelor's entry level job versus master's entry level job is quite significant so I'm not complaining, hehe. Anyways, today's blog will list out my new year's resolutions which will help me achieve my goals at university this year. I hope my goals might inspire you to set your own goals for this year and truly make the best out of 2021. 

Goal #1 Health Is First Priority - Mental and Physical 

Covid-19 as we all know has shown us the importance of good health and that does not just limit to physical good health but also good mental health. I definitely went through a rollercoaster of emotions just like you (which I will talk about in another blog), but that made me realise how important it is for me to stay happy to remain calm and sane in VUCA world. This year, I WILL take out time to purse my hobbies such as dancing and drawing to make my brain happy and exercise regularly to make my body happy. I do not believe in diets but yes, the quarantine belly has to go, but that doesn't mean I'll stick to just salads, I'll whatever makes me happy but remain mindful. So bye-bye midnight binging!

Goal #2 Practice Gratitude 

Being away from family for almost 1.5 years has really made me grateful for them and their non-stop support throughout my life before and during university. I have lost plenty of friends due to the lockdown and some have stuck around, for which I am grateful for. I realised that counting my blessings is something that gives me joy and a peace of mind. I WILL practice gratitude daily by reflecting on the high and low points of the day, because not every day is flowery and perfect.

Goal #3 Say YES To Learning New Things

During the lockdown, I'm sure you must have picked up a new hobby or revived an old one. For me that was drawing and baking, and I don't want to stop those hobbies because they were very creative stress busters. However, with university starting again, I want to open my arms and embrace things I WILL learn from my new friends and their cultures. I want to become more open-minded and accepting towards others and the only way I can achieve this is by saying YES. 

Goal #5 Stick To A Regular Routine 

I'm sure as students, we all slept through early morning online lectures and then stayed up all night binge-watching movies and TV shows. However, in retrospect that wasn't the healthiest lifestyle choice, and maybe why I grew a quarantine belly in the first place. The first step is done, to acknowledge that. Now for the next step, I WILL have a proper human routine and not be an owl and sleep at odd times. I will treat online university like regular university and set 10 alarms if I have to (sorry in advance roomies)!

Goal #6 Find Ways To Save Money 

If anything, staying at home for almost a year has saved ALOT of money for me as a student because all social events went down to 0. However, with the world slowly progressing to normalising in a couple of months expenses will rise again and with inflation things won't be cheap anymore for a while. That's why it's imperative to save money, even as a student. I know we don't lead very fancy lifestyles but simple changes such as buying groceries from the farmer's market instead of the grocery store will help you cut costs. If you want more money-saving tips, I have written a blog post about that here. Do check it out! I WILL save money and reduce unnecessary expenses this year.

Goal #7 Start A Part-Time Job 

This goes in tandem with the saving money goal, which is to earn some extra side money which I can use to start investing, or treat myself to some gifts or just generally save money for a rainy day. I truly believe that only studying does teach you alot, but working in a real-life situation and interacting with people older and more experienced than you can add so much more value to your student life experience. That's why I WILL find a part-time job that adds to my personal growth, makes me happy, teaches me new skills and topics while at the same time challenging me a little bit to balance my studies, social life and a job. 

Positive affirmations are so important, so that's why I will be reading these lines to myself to manifest a great year ahead. So these are my goals for the year, let me know in the comments down below what your goals are?

XO, Samudraki