Congratulations! You’ve made it through another (or your first) semester at UC.  That’s a huge milestone, and one you should be proud of and celebrate. Once you’re done celebrating, it’s also an excellent time to reflect and reset.

Stop, breathe and reflect

Reflection is more than just daydreaming.  It’s intentional exercise to think back on your experiences, analysing them and learning from them. Thinking back on your first semester and try answering these questions (writing it down helps!)

• Describe it, with as much detail as you like
• What went really well for me?
• How did I feel?  And why?
• What could I have done differently?
• What could I DO differently next time?

You can bundle up the whole experience, or you could break it down into different parts like…

• Study schedule – how did you approach it?  Was it rigid, flexible, with study buddies, solo, chip away every day or rushed last minute assignments?
• Social life – was it balanced? Did you stay connected or disappear into the ether at crunch time?  Staying socially connected is critical to wellbeing, even if it’s showing up to study groups to chat in the breaks.
• Physical wellbeing – were you active?  Too much, too little, just right? How did you sleep?  How about your nutrition? Did you drink enough water?

Just remember, small changes over time bring good rewards and most importantly, they are more likely to stick. Increasing your fruit or veggie serve by 1 each day means you’ve now had 7 extra serves of veggies that week. That’s a win.

So, stop for a moment to reflect on your first semester, and set some intentions for the next. You will thank yourself for it!

Ngā mihi
Te Ratonga Hākinakina | UC Rec&Sport (UC RecCentre)

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