A Beginning, an End & a Middle: Guiding Your Academic Journey

05 Mar A Beginning, an End & a Middle: Guiding Your Academic Journey

Setting academic goals is much like setting other goals: the vision you have for yourself begins with a clear intention, a compelling objective and an outline for how to get from intent to outcome. Establishing an academic vision for yourself begins with three core questions: 

No. 1 – What is my intention? 

No. 2 – What is my objective?

No. 3 – What are my milestones?

Our Academic goal Setting Guide walks you through developing a vision as part of your academic goal setting. While this goal setting guide can of course be put to other uses, it has been tailored to an academic-oriented goal or set of goals. 

By the end of the guide, you will draft a statement of intent, identify three core motivations for your goal, three objectives that help you meet that goal and a series of milestones with deadlines to keep you on track. At the end of the guide, you will be asked to draft a vision statement. Combined, these components will give you a clear idea of how to get from where you are now to where you want to be academically. 

I also want you to think about “academic” in much broader terms than you’re perhaps used to. It’s not just school and education – by “academic,” I mean learning in its broadest sense… The pursuit of knowledge, everlasting studentship. Since we are all always learning in some way that is meaningful to us, I hope this guide can be used by any who are conscious of their “student” status! 

Nevertheless, I was inspired to draw up this guide by students I’ve worked with in the past, particularly young people who felt lost about the vision they had for their postsecondary studies. Why am I pursuing this course/program/certification? Most don’t have a compelling reason. They are stuck in survival mode, completing assignments and striving for grades without giving too much thought to the end goal beyond the desire to graduate. But thriving in learning is possible; in fact, it is not only possible but also desirable to enjoythe learning process. That enjoyment is most achievable when we link our learning to our lives in a meaningful way. This guide helps with that. 

Another way for young people to move from “survive” to “thrive” in academic life is to enrol in U101: Your Guide to Postsecondary Success, my online course that equips students with the skills they need to truly excel in the university environment. Combine this free goal setting guide with Academic at Home’s online U101 course in order to explore new aspects of the learning process and to acquire the skills you need in order to succeed, now and in future.