Reflection

The most important thing you can do for yourself in college: reflect often. Reflection involves taking time to contemplate the past so you can improve on what worked and change what didn’t. By thinking over what we do on a daily or weekly basis we can become more efficient and spend the time saved on things we love.
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The time spent reflecting is a good time to get to know you a little better. It’s a good time to think about your major, job, partner, and what you really want out of life. Do I really want to be a biologist, I sure love writing? Is college going to get me…….? Why am I here?

I’ve met too many people who were about to graduate that didn’t want to do what they majored in. Wow, right? They picked their major years ago and were complacently stressing through the motions without ever stopping to think if that’s what they still wanted to do. Had they’d spent just a few hours (like 5) reflecting after their first and second year of college they could have spent those last years doing what they were passionate about. We need to be constantly updating our goals and expectations. And besides, the average college student changes their major 4 times before graduating. So don’t rush, you have plenty of time.

Remember, everything we believe and do in our lives stems from our experiences. As we gain new ones we hone in on who we are and what we want. We spend our whole lives doing this and if we want to stay happy our direction has to change with our experiences. And, reflecting is the only way to get in touch with those changes and understand them. Just a few minutes a week can save you years in setbacks.


Other ways reflection can help in college.

When it comes to getting good grades reflection is the key. All of us have had a class that we didn’t do well in or a test that we studied for and it didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to. But, how many of us have taken the time to think about why this happened?

How to use reflection to reduce time spent studying and increase you grades:

College professors are all different and not required to have taken any classes on how to teach. So, there’s no telling what they’re thinking when they create tests.

How do we do better? After you get your first test back look it over to see where the information came from. Most teachers will assign readings and repeat some if not all of that information in class.So how do we overcome this and do better?

Now, see how many questions came only from the book. You see, most teachers assign reading but haven’t actually read the book in years. These teachers test directly from the lectures, so, The half hour you spend looking over your test can save you hours of book studying for the next exams. Try it out.

Don’t stop reading the book. Texts help by showing you another way to think about the material and they reinforce what was said in class.

You don’t have to choose between a life and college. Reflecting will help you learn your own ways of working smarter and becoming more efficient.

To start practicing, find a quiet peaceful place without distractions, free your mind and start with the most important question. What do I want out of life? You have to know where you’re going before you can decide how to get there.

Once you know what you want think about what you’re doing to get there.

Reflecting at least once a week will help with all aspects of college and life.

-Brett