New Year’s Resolution

 

Photo credit: Flickr/David Kingham

With a new year, often comes new experiences. Although, I am a big proponent of being intentional every day, there is something refreshing about a new year starting. For me, January 1st was a time dedicated to reflect on experiences in 2018 and what I want to happen this 2019. Creating intentions last year really made my year so fun, full of love and happiness. I am hoping and excited that this year will be filled with more love, happiness, success, and a great health.

In this blog, I will be explaining how I made goals this year. It is with the intention of being happy and health with all aspects of my life. I hope that the template below helps you be more intentional with your life and helps you learn more about me.

• Spiritual Goals – These past few years have been such a transformational journey for my spiritual life, especially last year. Last year was the most I have changed in such a short time. I have been like clay this year, molded in so many ways. In this area, I included goals to increase my faith (example: pray, fast, read all of the New Testament, increase prayer time, help God’s kingdom at least once a week, etc.) In here, you can put whatever spiritual goals you may have.
• Emotional Goals – Being more emotionally intelligent is something I have been working these past few years. I have learned so much and I feel more and more emotionally intelligent throughout the years, all thanks to God, family, friends, great books and really great mentors. In this section, I included intentional phrases such as foster self love, peace, love for others, and understanding. The following phrases are some intentions I hope and plan to focus this year to help me be more emotionally intelligent: “let go of worries,” “trust God has the best intentions for me and that he showers me with his love continuously,” “stay grounded,” “set boundaries,” “trust my practice,” “be self aware and do what feels right with the Holy Spirit,” and “remember what matters most is God- there is no one bigger and more powerful than God our savior.”
  
• Career/Academic Goals – Throughout these years, I have learned and grown tremendously. My interests have expanded but it has also been narrowed down based on the life I want to live. Upon reflections throughout the years, I feel like I am heading towards the right direction. There are still some uncertainties but hopefully the academic goals I have listed here will help overall with my professional path. In this section, I’ve indicated goals such as complete the GRE, look into graduate school programs, look into professional programs, look into how I can expand in my role now, and write my book at least one hour a week.
• Mental / Intellectual Goals – Dealing with the death of loved ones, dealing with a death of a long-term relationship, dealing with self doubts, and seeing painful results of suicides have made these past few years be filled with such great growth and valuable lessons. I have learned how oh so important it is to take care of my mental health. In this section, I put goals such as foster healthy relationships/healthy boundaries, work on authenticity in relationships at work even though it gets busy, strengthen relationships with family and close friends, pray daily, explore Colorado more, take more adventures, do things that are good for my soul, experience hygge more in my every day life, do at least 5 things on my bucket list, read 1 book a month, travel at least 2x outside of Colorado, plan 2020 trip to the Philippines with my parents, buy myself flowers every once in awhile, trust that everything will work out for my own good, practice daily gratitude, and pray for future husband and family.
• Fitness Goals – I think this section of my goals would have to be one of the most challenging section that I am nervous about. I’ve been up and down when it comes to achieving my fitness goals these past few years. As the years have gone by, I have definitely seen improvements but I hope that this year will be a huge fitness transformational for me, in the most positive way. This year, my goals are to be more fit, add weight training to my exercise routine, exercise 5-7 times a week (with a focus on different body sections), do intermittent fasting, be more aware of the food I eat, and work on staying away from processed food.
• Financial Goals – When I spread my wings this 2018 and moved to Colorado, there were so many lessons I learned. One lesson is to always save more than you think you need to save. In this section, my goals are to continue to make a budget, save for the GRE, save for car registration, continue to have an emergency fund, save for a home, get another job or get a raise to put more into savings, look into mutual funds and look into a permanent flow of income.

Those are some of my goals this year.

Beautiful lessons to keep in mind this year as you tackle your goals are to know you are capable of so much more than you think and to have the flexibility, love and kindness for yourself if you are not meeting the goals at the specified deadlines. Remember, my beautiful friends, be oh so kind and loving to yourself. Take care of your thoughts when you are alone and take care of your words when you are with others- for thoughts and words can either uplift or destroy others and yourself.

Peace and love,

Gemma

Photo credit: Flickr/David Kingham

 

Changes

These past few years, I have been working on being more intentional in my life. My focus has been to live a purposeful life and this year, is the year I have started to fully implement it and be stronger with my relationship with self and others. I have been aligning my hours, days, weeks, and months with being healthy physically, spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. Here is my game plan for achieving this in 2018.

Fitness Goals

• Go to the gym at least 3 times a week.
  • Cardio dance 2X a week.
• Walk 7-10 miles every Saturday and Sunday.

Intellectual Goals

• Read or listen to one book a month.
• Research a topic every week to learn more about the world we live in.
  • This can be medical inventions or different cultural dances, etc.

Career and Academic Goals

• Shadow physicians and physician assistants.
• Complete and excel in Microbiology and Anatomy 2.
• Apply for Physician Assistant School.
• Apply for another clinical job with more leadership skills.

Philanthropy and Service Goals

• Do a school supplies and clothes drive for students at the Philippines.
• Start working on creating a clinic at the Philippines for underprivileged communities.
• Volunteer for an organization that means a lot to me.
• Be a part of the Wish Tree at the University of Nevada.
• Make 1,000 origamis for kids at the Children’s Miracle Network.

Actions of Self Love Goals

• Do an action of self love at least once a week (if not every day).
• Take dancing lessons (aside from cardio dancing).
• Watch something funny when I can and feel like it.
• Get updated with memes. (haha)
• Journal.
• Do meditation.
• Try something new every month.
• Complete at least one thing from my bucket list every month (or every 2 weeks).
• Dress modestly.

Travel and Experience Goals

• Travel to Colorado.
• Travel to California.
• Travel to Hawaii.
• Travel to the Philippines.

Spiritual Goals

• Strive for a stronger relationship with God.
• Pray daily.
• Attend bible studies and service.
• Do fellowship.
• Read the bible when I am by myself as well.
• Journal and reflect.
• Dress modestly.

Relationship Goals

• Spend time with friends (new and old) every week (or at least message them).
• Do something sweet for family and friends, especially when they are having a busy or difficult week.
• Have deep conversations with family and friends.
• Spend time wisely with loved ones.
• Get to know families and friends more because we are ever changing.

Financial Goals

• Save money for PA school applications and traveling expenses.
• Save money for another car.
• Start saving for retirement.

 

Career and Academic Goals for 2016

Photo Credit: blog.studentadvisor.com

• Create a plan for this next school year (especially spring 2017) of the classes I will take and activities I will do in order to graduate with a dual degree in Biology and Spanish and be ready to apply for medical school in the summer of 2017.
• Find a mentor to help with my honors thesis.
• Register and become a Certified Nursing Assistant or a medical scribe by the end of Fall 2016.
  • Do more clinical experiences
• Study at least 6 hours per day throughout the summer.Take the MCAT Exam and the GRE Exam (if needed for the Master’s of Public Health program).
• Update my resume
• Perfect my personal statement by going to the writing center and getting at least 5 people to review it. (Include it when asking for recommendation letters)
• Get at least 4 letters of recommendation by the end of the fall semester.
• Get above 3.5 GPA for the semester.
  • Study at least 30 hours per week for Fall 2016 classes.
• Apply to either study abroad in Alicante, Spain or shadow physicians in Spain during winter break.
• Expand network in the health care field. (On campus and off campus)
• Meet with advisors (Spanish, Biology, Honors, TRiO, Pre-Professional) and take a picture. Get their permission to include the picture on a future blog about mentors.
• Apply for the Post-Baccalaureate program from November 15-January 15.
• Apply for the Master’s of Public Health from November 1 – April 15.
• Create a plan to make a clinic in the Philippines and go over it with family in the Philippines and pre-professional advisor.
• Create Thank You cards to send to professors, administrators, supervisors, staff, etc.
• Make Holiday Cards for supervisors (work and volunteering).

Photo Credit: Kent.edu

Photo Credit: volzinc.com

62. Get certified in something- Completed November 2015

I got CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) Certified again! Thank you to Phi Delta Epsilon Nevada Alpha for paying for the fees for all of our members. Getting my CPR certification was different this time compared to when I was in high school. It was longer and harder. The training lasted for about 4 hours. We were tested to do compression and give breaths to both adults and infant mannequins. By the end of the day, my hands were so tired from doing the CPR! I am happy that I got trained. Now, I feel more prepared to save someone’s life!

Below is a summary of the important BLS components for adults, children, and infants that our instructors gave us. The table is from the American Heart Association. To learn more about the guidelines, please look at this link.

How to Get Good Grades in College

 

Stay Organized

Photo Credit: Lauren

Use a planner or a calendar. I often used a planner when I was in high school but as my schedule got busier, I started using Google calendar. You can use whichever works best for you. On your planner or calendar, make sure to put your schedule and to-do list on there. I usually compile my class syllabus the first week of school and highlight all of my exams, quizzes, and assignment due dates for every class. I, then, transfer them to my calendar, and put reminders 2-3 weeks in advance when I have exams, and large projects that I need to work on. On my calendar, I differentiate all of my activities in different colors. I made my classes blue, assignment time red orange, exams yellow, hang out with yellow orange, etc.. Make sure to include a weekly study schedule on there. Above is a picture of how I have organized my calendar.

Photo Credit: Blake

Organize your backpack and desk. Clean them once a week or twice a month. This will prevent you from losing anything. Also, if it is messy, you may have a hard time concentrating and finding things. Have a binder specifically for each of your classes. Put dividers in each of your binder and write, “Homework,” “Class Notes,” “Exams,” “Quizzes,” and any other section you can think of putting that relates to your classes. As you get your homework, exams, and quizzes back, put them in their specific sections. This will help you later on when you are studying for your quizzes, midterms, and final exams. If you do not want to take all of those binders to school, you can leave it at home, and get a 5 Subject Notebook to school. Make each section on the notebook be for each of your classes. On there, you will write your class notes, and anything your professor went over that day. Later, when you arrive home, you can transfer those notes into your “Class Notes” section of your binder.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Learning the Material

• Know the best way you learn. Once you know your learning style, you can use that learning style to absorb the material.
• You prefer learning by…

Photo credit: Tanseem. Please click to enlarge.

Photo Credit: Reader’s Theatre

Actively read your assigned book. Try to read the chapters before your go over it in class.  Although this can be extremely boring and a pain, you will soon find that it is really helpful. Make sure to write notes and summaries of each section or page. If you do not have the time to read all of your books, go over the important details. Oftentimes, it is the sections that are underlined or bolded. In your notes, summarize what you read and the important details you read. If you are confused with something on the reading, write it down and include the page number you had that question on. The next day you go to class, ask your professor. For math books, make sure to do the example problems on there, as they will help you on your exams and homework.

• If possible, print your lecture notes in advance and read them before class. Write down any questions you have so that you can ask your professor in class.
• Take great notes in class. Make sure to copy down everything your professor draws on the board. Also, if your professor repeats something, make sure to write it down as well because it may be important for future exams. Write neatly so that you can go back to your notes and read it after school. When going over your notes, highlight the important things you need to know for the exams. It may be good to rewrite your notes so that you can understand the material more. Make sure to look over your notes after class.

Photo Credit: Uknown

Ask questions. Make sure to ask your professor any questions you have regarding homework, readings, exams, and etc.. You can ask if his or her office hours. It would be good to ask in front of the class because your classmates may have the same questions but if you would prefer to not talk in front of class, you can always ask your professor after class. If you would like to meet your professor after class to talk about your questions, coordinate a time that works best for you and your professor to meet. You don’t want to show up in his or her classroom afterschool and find out that your professor has already left. If there is a discussion leader, student instructor, or teaching assistant for the class, make sure to talk to them and ask them questions that you may have. Participate in class activities. This will help you remember all of the things you learned.

Photo Credit: Tony Alter

Do Your Homework. Do your homework right when you get home after school. This will make you less stressed later on. If you can, try to finish your assignment at least 2 days in advance. This will give you time to ask your professors and classmates for help if you cannot do a certain problem. Go to tutoring if you need help. Most colleges have tutoring, which you pay in your tuition so make sure to take advantage of that and go get help. You can even get help on your essays at the writing center in your university. If you have a paper due and you need to print it, make sure to print it at least 2 days before it is due. Print 2 copies in case you lose one or something spills on it. Also prepare for technical difficulties. When you are planning to print files in school the next day, or if you have a presentation, make sure to email the file to yourself, save it on a flash drive, and a google drive. This is to ensure that if in case one does not work, you have a backup. Your professor will love this because it will show that you are responsible and reliable.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Study for exams

Photo Credit: Hans Villarcia

Study by yourself. If your professor gives you a study guide, fill out what you know and look over your notes and books for the things that you are not familiar with. If you do not have a study guide, make one from all of the important things you learned for the past few weeks or months. (This is when having an organized binder will really help).

Tips to studying for exams:

• Use mnemonic devices to remember important information from your class. An example is “King Henry Died By Drinking Chocolate Milk.” That is used to remember the metric system based on the powers of ten.
• Study in a good environment. Make sure you are in an environment that you can study effectively in. If you are somewhere you cannot study at, move to a different location. Make sure to bring water and snacks in case you get hungry.
• Reserve the rooms in the university library for you to study in. You can do this weekly or before your exams.
• Do not procrastinate. Having study intervals instead of studying the night before an exam will help you retain more information and do better in your exams. It will also help you feel more confident instead of anxious for your exams. Cramming is stressful and it is not good for you. Make sure to do your assignments well in advance so that you do not have to stress out about it.
• Relax. Make sure not to not get so anxious when you are studying or doing your exam. If you get too anxious, you will most likely not retain all of the information that you are studying. Also, when you are too anxious during your exam, you may forget some of the things that you studied prior to it.

Study with groups. Form study groups with your classmates. This will help you make friends and it may also make you less stressful knowing that there are other students that are going through the same things you are going through. Forming a study group will help you because your group may be able to help you on problems that you may have.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Take care of yourself

Eat healthy meals every day. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, it is important to meet your physiological needs such as food, water, warmth, and rest. Make sure to eat a healthy breakfast every day. Not eating enough or eating too much can distract you throughout the day.

Get enough sleep. This will help you focus more throughout the day instead of getting sleepy. Most teens need about 8.5 hours of sleep each night.

• Exercise. Your classes may be stressful at times. Exercise daily to reduce stress. It will help you feel better and sleep better. You can either exercise on your own or join a sports team. That’s fun!

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Other Tips

• Ask other students about your classes before the semester begins and what to expect in each of them. Are the exams based more on the readings or lecture? Are the exams more similar to the homework? Getting student feedback from those who have already taken the class with the same professor is useful because you have an idea of what are in for.
• Improve your memory by playing games like Sudoku.
• Watch educational documentaries on your free time. They may be helpful in your classes and it may get you even more excited about the things you are learning.
• Keep track of your grades throughout the semester. Make sure to go over your homework that was handed back to you to see if there is anything you missed. Make sure you look over your mistakes and learn from them because they may be on the test later on.
• Take breaks and reward yourself.
• Create small goals that will eventually lead you to your big goal.
• Stay positive and keep going.
• Ask your professor if you can do any extra credit to improve your grade. If your professor says yes, do it and turn it in the next day.
• Have a positive environment for yourself. Make sure to not hang around with friends who are not serious about their education. It is difficult to do well in school if you are surrounded by people who do not want to do well and don’t care about school.
• When you are losing motivation, look at some motivational videos.

How to Get Good Grades in High School

Stay Organized

Photo Credit: Susan

Use a planner or a calendar. I often used a planner when I was in high school but as my schedule got busier, I started using Google calendar. You can use whichever works best for you. On your planner or calendar, make sure to put your schedule and to-do list on there. I usually compile my class syllabus the first week of school and highlight all of my exams, quizzes, and assignment due dates for every class. I, then, transfer them to my calendar, and put reminders 2-3 weeks in advance when I have exams, and large projects that I need to work on. On my calendar, I differentiate all of my activities in different colors. I made my classes blue, assignment time red orange, exams yellow, hang out with yellow orange, etc. Make sure to include a weekly study schedule on there. Below is a picture of how I have organized my calendar.

• Organize your backpack and locker. Clean them once a week or twice a month. This will prevent you from losing anything. Also, if it is messy, you may have a hard time concentrating and finding things. Have a binder specifically for each of your classes. Put dividers in each of your binder and write, “Homework,” “Class Notes,” “Exams,” “Quizzes,” and any other section you can think of putting that relates to your classes. As you get your homework, exams, and quizzes back, put them in their specific sections. This will help you later on when you are studying for your quizzes, midterms, and final exams. If you do not want to take all of those binders to school, you can leave it at home, and get a 5 Subject Notebook to school. Make each section on the notebook be for each of your classes. On there, you will write your class notes, and anything your teacher went over that day. Later, when you arrive home, you can transfer those notes into your “Class Notes” section of your binder.

Photo Credit: Jen

Photo Credit: Teen Diaries

Learning the Material

• Know the best way you learn. Once you know your learning style, you can use that learning style to absorb the material.
  • Learning Styles
    • Visual: You prefer learning by looking at images.
    • Aural: You prefer learning by listening to sound and music.
    • Verbal: You prefer learning by using words in writing and speech.
    • Physical: You prefer learning by using your hands, and body.
    • Logical: You prefer learning by using logic and reasoning.
    • Social: You prefer to learn with other individuals.
    • Solitary: You prefer working alone and studying by yourself.

Photo Credit: Catholic Religion Teacher

• Actively read your assigned book. Try to read the chapters before your go over it in class.  Although this can be extremely boring and a pain, you will soon find that it is really helpful. Make sure to write notes and summaries of each section or page. If you do not have the time to read all of your books, go over the important details. Oftentimes, it is the sections that are underlined or bolded. In your notes, summarize what you read and the important details you read. If you are confused with something on the reading, write it down and include the page number you had that question on. The next day you go to class, ask your teacher. For math books, make sure to do the example problems on there, as they will help you on your exams and homework.

Picture Credit: Suprinojo Suharjoto/fotolia.com

• Take great notes in class. Make sure to copy down everything your teacher draws on the board. Also, if your teacher repeats something, make sure to write it down as well because it may be important for future exams. Write neatly so that you can go back to your notes and read it after school. When going over your notes, highlight the important things you need to know for the exams. It may be good to rewrite your notes so that you can understand the material more.

Picture Credit: Jakub Horicky

• Ask questions. Make sure to ask your teacher any questions you have regarding homework, readings, exams, and etc. It would be good to ask in front of the class because your classmates may have the same questions but if you would prefer to not talk in front of class, you can always ask your teacher after class. If you would like to meet your teacher after school to talk about your questions, coordinate a time that works best for you and your teacher to meet. You don’t want to show up in his or her classroom afterschool and find out that your teacher has already left.

Picture Credit: Sujan Patel

• Participate in class activities. This will help you remember all of the things you learned.

Do Your Homework

• Do your homework right when you get home after school. This will make you less stressed later on. If you can, try to finish your assignment at least 2 days in advance. This will give you time to ask your teachers and classmates for help if you cannot do a certain problem. If you have a paper due and you need to print it, make sure to print it at least 2 days before it is due. Print 2 copies in case you lose one or something spills on it. Also prepare for technical difficulties. When you are planning to print files in school the next day, or if you have a presentation, make sure to email the file to yourself, save it on a flash drive, and a google drive. This is to ensure that if in case one does not work, you have a backup. Your teacher will love this because it will show that you are responsible and reliable.

Photo Credit: Hieu Chau

Study for exams

• Study by yourself. If your teacher gives you a study guide, fill out what you know and look over your notes and books for the things that you are not familiar with. If you do not have a study guide, make one from all of the important things you learned for the past few weeks or months. (This is when having an organized binder will really help). Below are other tips to studying for exams:
  • Use mnemonic devices to remember important information from your class. An example is “King Henry Died By Drinking Chocolate Milk.” That is used to remember the metric system based on the powers of ten.
  • Study in a good environment. Make sure you are in an environment that you can study effectively in. If you are somewhere you cannot study at, move to a different location. Make sure to bring water and snacks in case you get hungry.

• Do not procrastinate. Having study intervals instead of studying the night before an exam will help you retain more information and do better in your exams. It will also help you feel more confident instead of anxious for your exams. Cramming is stressful and it is not good for you. Make sure to do your assignments well in advance so that you do not have to stress out about it.

• Relax. Make sure not to not get so anxious when you are studying or doing your exam. If you get too anxious, you will most likely not retain all of the information that you are studying. Also, when you are too anxious during your exam, you may forget some of the things that you studied prior to it.

Picture Credit: Examtime.com

• Study with groups. Form study groups with your classmates. This will help you make friends and it may also make you less stressful knowing that there are other students that are going through the same things you are going through. Forming a study group will help you because your group may be able to help you on problems that you may have.

Photo Credit: Antara Sinha

Take care of yourself

• Eat healthy meals every day. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, it is important to meet your physiological needs such as food, water, warmth, and rest. Make sure to eat a healthy breakfast every day. Not eating enough or eating too much can distract you throughout the day.
• Get enough sleep. This will help you focus more throughout the day instead of getting sleepy. Most teens need about 8.5 hours of sleep each night.
• Exercise. Your classes may be stressful at times. Exercise daily to reduce stress. It will help you feel better and sleep better. You can either exercise on your own or join a sports team. That’s fun!

Photo Credit: Unknown

Other Tips

• Improve your memory by playing games like Sudoku.
• Watch educational documentaries on your free time. They may be helpful in your classes and it may get you even more excited about the things you are learning.
• Keep track of your grades throughout the semester. Make sure to go over your homework that was handed back to you to see if there is anything you missed. Make sure you look over your mistakes and learn from them because they may be on the test later on.
• Go to tutoring if your school offers if. If it does not offer it, ask someone who is good at the subject you are struggling in to be your tutor.
• Take breaks and reward yourself.
• Create small goals that will eventually lead you to your big goal.
• Stay positive and keep going.
• Ask your teacher if you can do any extra credit to improve your grade. If your teacher says yes, do it and turn it in the next day.
• Have a positive environment for yourself. Make sure to not hang around with friends who are not serious about their education. It is difficult to do well in school if you are surrounded by people who do not want to do well and don’t care about school.

Photo Credit: Mandi Holcombe