2016 Resolutions Update - April 30

Well, we did it - second semester is officially over. I finished my last exams a few weeks ago and I just got my marks back the other day. Here's the April update for my 2016 resolutions.

1. Start learning Italian - (300 day streak on DuoLingo)
I started off the month still focusing on German, but I switched over to Italian once I got home from exams. As I think I mentioned previously, although my goal is to eventually be able to speak many languages, this year I do want to focus on Italian. One of the biggest things I need to do is learn more vocabulary and become comfortable with it. I'm hoping that next month I can begin using Anki, an electronic flashcard program, to improve my vocab. This is something I did last year with German and I found it to be extremely effective.

2. Keep at least a 10.5 GPA across all courses
Overall, I am extremely pleased with how this month went academically. I wrote exams for five out of my six courses, and immediately after finishing all of them, I felt quite confident. 

I got my unofficial marks back the other day, and things were a success in terms of this resolution. My overall average for semesters one and two is 89.4% from the Waterloo side, and 11.0/12 from Laurier. 

3. Write an ebook
Another month done, and still nothing in this area. The biggest question is simply, "What should I write about?" Hopefully I can make some progress during the month of May - I know I haven't made much progress in this area but I definitely do want to have something put together by the end of this year.

4. Spend semesters 2 & 3 at university getting more involved with everything Laurier offers
Now that I'm home for four months, all I can do in this area is look back and reflect.

I am very happy with my involvement during the second semester - I joined my residence House Council as one of two Upgrade Reps and involved myself with that. I had two meetings and a three hour study session each week, and this kept me pretty busy. During the month of February, we put a big focus on Hawk Weekend and my residence was able to win the Activities Cup. I also applied for a position as a general member on Laurier's Emergency Response Team (ERT) and I was just recently offered a position on the team.

Although I'm taking these next four months off from school, I'm looking forward to getting involved again once September comes around. Although it will be nice to take some time off after a strong performance first-year, I need to make sure not to forget how rewarding it was to get involved.