George Athanasopoulos, 9/21/21, PD 1

Goal Setting and Growth

• At this current point in time, what specific goal(s) do you have for yourself? Why

As this is the second week of school I have a ton of goals for myself, some immediate and some more long-term. Right now my main priority is to get through my college applications and essays. I have a lot of sorting out to do with what schools I plan on applying to and what schools I might apply for Early Action or Early Decision. I want to get through the bigger stuff by November so that I can focus on regular school work after and have more time to have fun and enjoy myself. Additionally, I am trying to get myself back to the regular school rhythm and make good connections with my teachers in these new classes. 

After school, I have track practice and now, in the fall, is cross country season. Being a senior now I have a lot of responsibility to help lead the team and get the new freshmen and sophomores in shape. I also have a lot of time-oriented goals for myself throughout the season for the different events I will be racing in. Next, I like to play drums in my free time, and over the last year, I feel like I have gotten a good base laid out for me so I hope I can keep on improving and expanding my abilities and timing. Lastly, this is my senior year so I aim to have as much fun as possible. Obviously, school work is very important but equally important is being able to enjoy myself and have fun with my friends and family.

• How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving this goal? (or these goals?)

Just writing down my goals right now and thinking of more felt overwhelming and there are days where it’s tough to fit in a lot of my goals. However, the most important thing is to take everything one day at a time. Obviously, some goals have more of a priority than others so I focus on those first, but if you take every goal and every step to reach that goal one step at a time things work out. Planning things out and knowing myself and my limits also helps me plan accordingly so that I don’t feel too pressured. Additionally, I am not alone in these goals. I have friends and my teammates and my family there with me and so I know there are other people there with me working on the same or similar goals and that gives me the strength to keep on striving to do my best. 

• How does the world around you affect your perception of this goal? (or these goals?)

Every other senior in the nation right now more or less has similar goals as me right now with school and college applications so I know we are all working as hard as we can to do our best and hopefully get into the schools we want to. The world also seems to be reopening up and there is just this feeling of productivity in the air to return back to the regular flow of life so that also helps me keep going because everyone around me is also getting back to school or to their jobs and readjusting to life before the pandemic.