Not only is it a start of a new year, but a new semester too. A new chapter in our academic journeys.

Many of us students, myself included, take it upon ourselves to improve on our academic skills set in the previous semester. Improvement in any way shape or form is important for us to grow not only as students but also as human beings.

Setting new academic goals allows for us to exceed our own standards and fly through the semester with ease. At the end of the day, your biggest competitor is yourself.

Doing better each semester is a great mindset for students to have in order to reinvent themselves and grow. Having this mentality will help students have more focus, especially if they are trying to make up for a previous semester, where the outcomes weren’t very great.

Even if you are a straight A student, there is always room to improve in some way, shape or form.

Having said that, if you are willing to see yourself grow and be a better student, create goals for the new semester. Setting your mind up to improve in academics will allow you to develop strengths that you can ultimately take with you beyond your time at CSUSM. Not only will you be improving your grades, you’ll gain confidence and see yourself as a great student.

Self-improvement is also helpful with refining your focus and turning weaknesses into strengths. You begin to have a sense of clarity in your goals as you become more focused on your studies.

If you are looking to improve this semester, start by looking at the weaknesses or mistakes you made the pre-vious semester. When you pin-point your weak spots, you can work on them and transform them into your strengths. This allows you to always find something to improve on, even if you are already doing well academically.

Setting goals for improvement also motivates you as a student to strive for success. Writing down your goals for the semester gives you an incentive to succeed and improve yourself.

Motivation is the fuel to get you going. When we get to the latter half of the semester, we are all likely to have the urge to give up, the drive to achieve these goals will keep you from falling into an unmotivation attitude.

In my personal experience, I’ve set goals for myself that encourage me to improve every semester. Although there have been not so successful semesters, I know that there is always room for improvement.

In my personal experience, I’ve set goals for myself that encourage me to improve every semester.

Although there have been not so successful semesters, I know that there is always room for improvement. Considering every semester as a new chapter in my academic journey allows me to start anew and focus on the classes I am taking that semester.

Improvement is not just a one-time process. It is a continuous cycle because we go through various stages in life and at times, we fail.

I encourage you all to try different ways of studying for exams or different note taking methods and set goals for this new semester that is in full swing.

Try to improve yourself as much as you can this semester, Cougars and remember that there is always room for improvement.