Hello, Ladies and Gents!

Aaaaand we made it! As I am writing this, 2022 is merely hours away and soon, people will be cheering as they usher in a new year. 2021 has been rough for everyone I think but I wanted to take a moment and reflect on last years resolutions and my former self’s goal’s that she wished to achieve over the course of her freshman and sophomore year of college.

Last year I divided my goals into categories, much like this year’s. These categories were writing, photography, blogging, art, personal, and school.

So let’s see how I did, shall we?

Starting off with the writing category….

Finish 5 short stories – check! I finished this one quite early actually. I now see the goal as rather small but at the time of setting it I was doing significantly less writing by large.

Finish the rough draft of “SNOW” – Snow is the title of my full length, fairytale themed mystery novel based on the events of Snow White. I finished the first rough draft of Snow in the summer and was quite proud of myself. This year I hope to finish the second and get the third underway.

Create a new plot book – This one requires some explaining. Every year, I write down many plots that I cannot write so I print the ideas out and collect them in various “plot books” to keep track of them as well as flip through for inspiration. I finished two the year prior and wished to make a third this year. I completed this task as well.

All of these goals were met much to my satisfaction. This next year I hope to set a few more as well as more challenging ones as I feel I’ve gotten an idea of how much writing I tend to do throughout a year.

Next up is the photography category…

Have a photoshoot with my bestfriend – Did this in the summer along with most of these other shoots with the exception of the Medieval shoot which was done in the snow.

Have a Medieval themed photshoot – Check! Did this in February I believe.

Have a photoshoot in a ballgown – Double check! Did this one twice.

Have a superhero themed photoshoot – Check as well! Me and my friend wanted to have a photoshoot in our marvel costumes for comic con which made for some fun pictures!

Next, let’s review my blogging goals…

Achieve 200 posts – I am surprised at how quickly I was able to complete this one! I got into blogging quite a bit more than I expected to this year which is awesome!

Try and post at least once a week – Mostly completed this one. There were a couple gaps during the year but overall I would say this goal was mostly met.

Feature/interact with other bloggers more – Mostly completed this one as well! I’m slowing trying to get involved in the wordpress sphere of blogging and am slowly making some blogging friends as well!

Make some new graphics – Did this twice actually. Once mid-year and again just today. I wanted a new, clean look for my blog to usher in the new year with!

Next up are my art goals…

Paint at least 5 paintings – Finished this during the spring semester of college. I was enormously stressed out and painting helped me relieve such stress.

Finish a sketchbook – Check! I have moved onto a new one and its also already half finished!

Try and draw a realistic person – I usually draw cartoon-y styled people so this one was challenging but I completed it a few times for good measure over the course of the year. Drawing realistic people is unbelievably hard.

Illustrate a story – I illustrated a fairytale I wrote.

Make concept art for my novel – Done! I also made a map for the world of my novel as well.

Create 100 digital art pieces – Completed this one as well.

Make a self portrait – Check! Did this twice over the summer and once during the fall semester.

Next we’ll be moving onto the personal goals category…

Read at least 5 books – This might seem like a tiny goal to most people but at this time in my life, I had a huge reader’s block that persisted until the summer of this last year. Thankfully I was not only able to read 5 but 10 books this year.

Do a devotional daily –  Didn’t quite make this one. Slacked off during my fall semester where I would do my devotional on and off. Habits are hard man.

Drink more water – Mostly completed this one? I should have made this goal more specific but overall I drank more water this year than the year before (where I was regularly dehydrated) so let’s hear it for progress. I did way better at this after my freshman spring semester for sure.

Complain less – I’m still making progress on this one. I don’t know if I exactly failed this one, but progress is much slower than I’d like with this one. Complaining is a bad habit that has plagued me since high school (heck, my blog is even called LOW EXPECTATIONS). I’d love to stop whining so much but I just love letting the world know when I’m unhappy.

Eat 3 meals a day – This was a goal I added later on the year mid spring. I was in horrible health both mentally and physically during this time which was made worse by my response to stress which was not eating. I started not feeling hungry without even thinking about it. In fact, I only noticed this was becoming an issue when I started shedding weight like crazy which is pretty bad when you’re an already scrawny 5’1 college girl. So I made this goal.

And I’m happy to report that I’m in a much better place. While I didn’t achieve this goal perfectly, by large, I’ve been good at eating 3 meals every day. The habit was hard to form and I struggled through the summer but overall, the hard work has paid off.

And now, the school related goals I made…

Don’t fail a class – I was worried about this goal for awhile. In the spring, I all but flunked my midterms. I thought for sure I was going to fail Bio 1 (THE CLASS THAT IS MY MAJOR). But things really did end up working out and I ended up not only passing Biology but did so with a B. Hang in there, fellow students.

Make at least a B in Chem 1 – Again, I was worried about this one. Chemistry was incredibly hard for me and I’d spend literally 4+ hours on the subject daily, trying to teach myself the material as everything was online. It was horrible but I had an amazing course lay out which made it feel more manageable. I came out of the class with an A+.

Shoot for a B in Pre-cal – And a B is what I got. I test badly in math so I spent the entire semester cushioning my grade for when I took the final. I got a 54% or something like that on the final but came out with a B as I worked so hard on all other assignments because I knew I wasn’t the best at math tests, especially when they’re timed.

Test out of my Chem 1 final – In my Chem 1 class, if you were happy with your grade, you could choose to opt out of the final. And since you already know what grade I got in the class, you bet your buttons that I was NOT take that final. No, thank you.

Create a solid 4 year graduation plan – Completed this one during the summer. I sat down with my sister who had already graduated college and made an excel document with all my classes and when I need to take them. Incredibly helpful during registration week.

Take finals in a healthier mindset than in the spring – Another goal that I added mid year. So, taking my finals in the spring, I was kind of dead inside. I was shaken up after doing so poorly on my midterms a few months earlier that I almost expected to do badly. I ended up doing fine on almost all of them (except for the pre-cal but we’ve talked about this). Really, I was just in a pretty toxic head space at the time and a part of me knew it. I equated my grades and performance to my worth without even realizing it so when I flunked my first big tests of the year, I really struggled.

So I made a goal to take my next finals in a much better head space the following semester. And so I did.

Completing this goal was a product of an astounding amount of work I’d done on myself after the void of doom that was the spring semester. These last finals I got sick with the flu during the week but to my surprise, this didn’t exactly stress me out. Moving all my finals back and missing out on precious study time while I was sick was annoying but I wasn’t falling apart at the seams like I was during last finals season.

I took every test with a sense of finality and pride. I’d done it. I’d made it through the fall semester of my sophomore year and regardless of whatever grade came back, I knew I was going to be okay.

And that feeling was a victory I don’t think can compare to anything else I have achieved during this last year.

Next year mostly certainly come with some downs. That’s kind of life. But it will come with some ups too. And I’m so excited to see not only what the ups are exactly, but how I will grow this next year. I’m a little nervous, granted, but that’s alright. Because regardless, I’m going to be okay.

Happy New Year & Take Care!