Starting a new semester is a great way to change your approach to your classes, personal life, and extracurricular activities, as well as to reexamine your goals and the best ways to accomplish them. Focus spoke with several Tech students to see what some of their goals for the upcoming semester are.
Jiby Yohannan is a second-year BIOL major. He is involved in undergraduate research, Global Jackets, MOVE and advising for Emerging Leaders.
“I want to be more efficient on the time I spend studying for each class, and focusing on what I need to understand,” Yohannan said.
As for personal goals, he wants to find a pen pal or language partner to help improve his Korean fluency and devote more time to his extracurricular activities.
Henry Photangtham is a fourth–year ISYE major. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Art History and is now pursuing a degree at Tech. He would like to get as many A’s as possible this semester—a goal that will surely be shared by many other Tech students. His personal goals include exercising more and his New Year’s resolution is to procrastinate less, which are goals that many students are also likely aiming for.
Ally Johnson is a third-year CHE major. She is on a dance team, and is in a sorority at Tech. Her academic goal is “To bring my GPA up, and to actually have a good experience by learning new material, instead of just wanting a class to be over.” She wants to maintain a good balance between extracurricular activities and academics, and to make adequate time for friends, family and academics in her life.
Kyle Dzwonkowski is a second-year ENVE major. He is involved with MOVE and PRIDE. His academic goals are specific, wanting to get his GPA up to a 3.5 this semester. This year, he also plans to keep his focus on academics, so that he can get an internship in the fall. He plans to volunteer more as his New Year’s Resolution.
Tiffany Liu is a second-year ME major. She is involved in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Society of Physics Students. She explained that her academic goal is to reach the Dean’s List this semester. She would also love to join the American Society of Mechanical Engineering.
Sikha Das is a second-year ISYE major. She is involved in Society of Women Engineers and the Gamma Beta Phi honor society. She will be interning with The Home Depot this summer. Her academic goals are to learn things that are pertinent to my internship this summer. She would like to be less stressed this semester, and get more involved with her organizations.
Courtney Widjaja is a second-year BIOL major. She is involved in undergraduate research, Global Jackets and the Society for Biodiversity. She said that her academic goal is to do well so she can get into the medical school of her choosing. Her personal goals are multifaceted.
“I want to run, swim, ski, walk more and generally be a better person to those around me,” Widjaja said.
She also has ambitious goals for her organization, the Society of Biodiversity. She wants it to reach new audiences and begin to prosper and grow so that they can help out in the Atlanta community.
When asked about her New Year’s resolutions, she said that since the first thing she did in the New Year was to eat mint chocolate chip ice cream, things did not bode well for keeping to her resolutions this semester.