2016 Resolutions Update - May 31

One month of summer finished - three more still to go. Here's the May update for my 2016 resolutions.

1. Start learning Italian - (300 day streak on DuoLingo)
A couple weeks ago, I started to integrate Anki (a flashcard based program) into my learning. This is a tool which I used last year for German, and boy has it helped. I think the biggest factor for language learning is simply the amount of time you dedicate to it, and using Anki has allowed me to spend more time each day learning vocabulary. Over the past couple weeks, I've noticied a dramatic increase in the amount of Italian I'm learning and remembering.

My daily routine is probably a little crazy... I do at least 3 lessons in Italian (30 XP) of DuoLingo, I have my flashcard program on my phone, and I'm also utilizing Anki on my computer for German, As far as I can tell it's working - I feel my understanding of Italian increasing as the days go on, and I'm still able to stay up-to-date with my German.

Right now my biggest problem with Italian is that I simply don't know enough words. I think I've finally got a hang of the verb endings, the sentence structure, the genders, etc., and now it's simply a matter of learning more words. Maybe in a few months I'll even order a book or two in Italian to read.

2. Keep at least a 10.5 GPA across all courses
I ended my second semester with an 11.0 GPA (89.4%), which means I'm able to keep my scholarship going into second year. While I was initially planning on taking a course or two over the summer, I eventually decided against it. I simply didn't want to risk performing poorly and losing my scholarship, as unlikely as that may have been.

I'm taking a break from this goal for these next few months, but I will pick it back up again come September. I need to maintain a GPA of 10.0 to stay on Laurier's Honour Roll, and an average of 87% for Waterloo's Honour's List, so I think aiming for a 10.5 is a pretty good benchmark

3. Write an ebook
Still no progress here. 

4. Spend semesters 2 & 3 at university getting more involved with everything Laurier offers
I'll update this goal once I start semester 3 in September. I want to make sure that, throughout my next four years at Laurier and Waterloo, I continue to get involved in activities outside of my academic, and I think a resolution is the best way to monitor that.