New year, new me

For this article, 23 students were interviewed about their intentions for this year and how they differ from previous years. It is interesting to see how so many students have the same plans. It would not surprise you that ‘succeed’ or ‘no procrastination’ is high on this list. But what are their other goals?

 

Future

For students in the later years of their studies, the view on the future became increasingly important. A third-year bachelor’s student noted: “In the field I want to pursue, my grades matter, including those from my bachelor program. That’s why my goal is to achieve higher grades this year.” Meanwhile, a master student is trying to determine whether her current specialization is the right fit for her. “My bachelor program was focused on conducting research,” she said, “for me, this year is really about seeing if I’m capable of doing it, and if I am, whether I enjoy it enough to pursue it as a career instead of doing a PhD.”

Another master student, who is going to do an internship, says she wants to be more proactive in her last year. She wants to make a good impression at the company from her internship and wants to work on her connections. Again, a goal focused on the future, just as a lot of other master students. “In my opinion, my masters is about making connections,” one says. He does this by speaking to guest speakers afterwards. “Everyone studies," he says, “show who you are not.” One of them also mentioned focusing on where to live later on, so she and her boyfriend can both work in a nice place.

Goals about the future are common, but not everything has to be serious. 

Fun

Starting students are focused on having fun. Their goal: “Find a place I fit in”. In other words, figuring out whether the course is the right fit and what aspects of it suit them best. Making friends is also part of this process. Not everything goes as planned. “You run into things and find your way as you go,” said one of them. “I started another study last year,” another first-year student noted, “but I still needed to learn too much about adult life. I didn’t meet the BSA requirements.” Thereby she added: “You have to have a bit of fun, too.”

Free days

How do you find the balance between fun and study? The solution for a lot of students: plan a free day. “What I am doing differently this year is to plan a free day,” told a student, “or at least, plan a free part of a day.” Her reason was logical: “I spent all my free time studying in the past. This made me do too much work, I fell behind and failed my classes.” Planning free moments is not always as easy, but it is crucial. “Last year I was doing an internship from Monday to Friday. If I was also studying on the weekend, this was at the expense of my mental health,’ another student said. 

So how do you actually succeed in your study?

“Mostly surviving, but that may sound a little too negative,” an older bachelor student said. “I do extra curricula so I am not dependent on earning the last study credits,” is someone else's tactic. Most students want to plan better and stop procrastination. They intend on going to their lectures and asking questions. One student was very realistic about this and said: “I don’t make resolutions. What am I going to do? Planning? I have tried that before.”

So what can you do to get your diploma? The real tips from students: make a review of what you have to do, choose a study you like to keep motivation up, go to university to study instead of doing this at home, keep your personal boundaries, ask help and accept the help. And last but not least, sometimes you have to walk the easier walk. “If I had more IQ-points, my goal would be to learn as much as possible, but I just want to graduate,” a third year bachelor student said, “so I do the classes I know I will pass and only learn the bare minimum to pass the exam.” Everyone has their own goal and their own way to get there. Some want to learn as much as possible, others just want to graduate. 

My goal

Writing this article made me think of my goals this year. Stop procrastinating and passing my classes is high on my list. Anyway, I will start with that tomorrow. Let me finish this article first.

The students are approached at university campuses. Students not present on campus, leaving university immediately, or were on campuses I did not go to, are out of the control group. Therefore the sample is random.