I want my “Professional Self” to be someone that people are comfortable coming up to and who is successful in my field of work. Breaking it down into categories, I think the main ones are academic, workplace, and goals. In terms of academics, while I am always trying to do my best, I know some knowledge comes easier than others. I am going to keep up with the skills I am struggling with while continuing to excel in the skills I do well in. Overall, I believe that maintaining a 3.2 GPA or above during my college career would support my “Professional Self”. In the workplace, I want to be known as reliable and independent. I want to be able to receive a project and be able to meet all the requirements, exceed expectations, and meet deadlines. Being financially well off and having a great environment for my future self is what motivates me to excel in these areas. Challenges I may face are altercations with other team members, coworkers, and anyone I can meet. This can be having to approach other students who are working on a project with me or coworkers not performing to the expected expectations. Some other challenges I could face is over-estimating the workload I can accomplish. As explained by Cuseo (2010), self-awareness is an important aspect of setting goals for myself, and I need to be aware of how much work I can handle.
Goal for myself using the SMART acronym (Chastain, 2012):
S: Acquiring the required GPA to get into the Computer Science and Engineering major at OSU by the end of the AU19 Semester.
M: Gain a GPA of 3.2 or higher.
A: Must achieve a minimum of A- in 4 classes this semester. This can be done by staying on track with my studies and doing well on exams.
R: Getting into the major will help get into classes required to graduate with a BS in CSE and help me gain useful knowledge to help me gain a job out of college.
T: 3.2 must be achieved by Dec 4th. I must stick to a study schedule in order to not fall behind on my studies.
References:
Chastain, A. (2012, May). SMART goals help you achieve success. Retrieved from http://www.canr.msu.edu/news/smart_goals_help_you_achieve_success
Cuseo, J. (2010). Chapter 2 Goal Setting, Motivation, and Character. In Thriving in the community college and beyond: Strategies for academic success and personal development (pp. 39-62). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Pub.