How to Set Achievable Academic Goals for Your Freshman Year

How to Set Achievable Academic Goals for Your Freshman Year

No matter where you are in life, whether you are in your first year of high school or your last year of college, there is something that you want to accomplish, whether it is related to academics or something beyond school. Goals provide people with a sense of purpose and achievement when completing them. Additionally, they will also help you stay confident and motivated throughout the year. Academic goals provide students with a roadmap to visualize what they want to accomplish and the direction they want to proceed with these accomplishments. Some examples of goals for students can be maintaining a certain GPA, trying out for a sport, learning a new language, trying a new hobby, improving their public speaking or time management skills, receiving a certain amount of volunteer hours, etc.

Understanding the Purpose of your Goal

Before understanding the “how”, it is important to recognize the “why”. Recognizing why you want to accomplish something will enhance your sense of passion and courage to follow through with your goals. So, when deciding your goal, it is crucial to recognize what we want to do, why we want to do it, and what impact we intend for it to have. Is your goal to enhance yourself or your surroundings and what is the benefit of accomplishing this goal? These are just a few things to keep in mind when developing a goal.

Look At Where You Are Now

Before you dive into figuring out how you are going to accomplish this goal, start with an honest self-assessment. What strengths will help you achieve this? What weaknesses will hold you back or try to stop you? Are your habits well-developed or do they need refining or improvement? Remember, the large goals that people accomplish come from the small things that they do every day to reach that height. You have to understand your starting point to look at the small aspects that are keeping you at a disadvantage. Maybe you have to improve these small aspects of yourself to achieve your goal later on

Using the SMART Goal Structure

Before using this method to develop your goal, keep in mind that this may not work for you and that’s perfectly fine. You can still create and accomplish what you want to regardless of whether or not you have a “perfect” or organized start. In the SMART goal method, the S stands for specific, the M stands for measurable, the A stands for attainable, the R stands for relevant, and the T stands for time-bound. In summary, the SMART structure prioritizes creating a goal that is clear and definable, progress can be tracked and measured, is realistically attainable, aligns with your interests or long-term plans, and has a deadline to maintain focus. An example of a SMART goal is: I will get at least a 3.8 GPA by the end of my first semester of sophomore year by going to tutoring, studying at least 2 hours a day after school, and reviewing what I learned in class over the weekend for at least 2 hours.

Breaking Goals in Smaller, More Manageable Tasks

When you have your goal, break it down into smaller steps and make yourself a schedule of which steps you are going to finish by which time. They also give you more frequent, smaller wins. These small wins are going to help you stay motivated and confident. Also, large goals can be intimidating and smaller tasks create ripples that have the potential to turn into a wave with enough momentum. So, instead of saying, “I’m going to do well on all my tests this year”, say “I’m going to review the topics learnt in class over the weekend to be sure that I understand everything and am prepared”. Rather than saying “I’m going to finish writing this paper by the end of the day”, say “I’m going to finish the outline/draft by 11:00 so I have plenty of time to make changes before it’s due”.

Conclusion

In conclusion, goals provide students with a roadmap to visualize what they want to accomplish and no matter where you are in life, they can help you get to where you want to be. Know what goal-setting isn’t about perfection, but instead, it’s about progress and creating habits that will be maintained for years to come. They will help you stay organized, motivated, and focused. 

**all the pictures have been created by Canva's Magic Media**

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