Goal Setting: First Quarter

Friendships:

Goals involving both new and old social interaction

Make friends with all of my dorm mates

Something that drew me to Evergreen was their apartment-style housing. While I’ll be living in a unit with five other people, we all have our individual rooms, allowing the privacy and space I need, while still forcing me to get a healthy amount of social interaction. It’s really important to me that my roommates and I have a good relationship because I’m going to be living with these people for the next 9 months. Lucky for me I’m already close friends with Gabby, one of my roommates, and Evergreen allows students to choose and get to know their roommates before moving in, so I’ve been in contact with my fellow cohabitation buddies for months, and they all seem like wonderful people. 

Make friends with the people in my classes and Herbal Apprenticeship

As I’m going to be seeing these people almost every day, it seems natural to want to befriend them as to have allies in class. I’m not the greatest at making friends in person, but luckily Evergreen offers a few ways to interact with fellow students. Both online before school even begins, and in a special course for underclassmen every Monday. With the encouragement of my preexisting friends, I’m hopeful I’ll be able to reach out and make connections with the new people around me. 

Keep in contact with my friends back home

Lucky for me, I’m pretty good at maintaining close friendships purely over the internet, but with the added stress of college, I have some worry that it may become more difficult. I want to make sure that keeping the contacts and relationships I’ve formed with really special people remains a priority because these people are very important to me. 

Caring for Myself

Goals designed to ensure I am happy and healthy, even in this new place

Keep my room organized

As everyone who knows me is already very aware, I struggle to keep my space in the cleanest and most functional conditions. I have a habit to tuck interesting things away in the hopes of crafting something out of them, which results in an abundance of creative creations, and an even greater abundance of trinkets, fabrics and other materials waiting their turn to be transformed. When I move into the dorms I won’t be able to bring my collections with me, which I hope will allow me to create a space more conducive to productivity than the one I already have. That’s not to say I’m going to stop my creative endeavors, just limit how much of it I bring into my living space. 

Eat Healthy and Regularly

While I learn more about autism, I’ve learned that many autistic people (such as myself) can get so wrapped up in whatever we’re doing to the point that we forget to eat. At home, I have my parents to help remind me that it’s 4 pm and all I’ve eaten is a handful of grapes as I’ve been so engrossed in needle felting I completely forgot I’m a living organism who requires nutrition. Now that I’ll be living away from others who help me monitor my food intake, I’m going to have to create a new system. Whether that be timers, reminders, or enlisting my roommates to help me remember, I’ll find a way to get nutritious and delicious food into my body regularly somehow!

Get Outside Often

This goal shouldn’t be too difficult as the campus is located on 1,000 acres of temperate rainforest and coastline. But neglecting to add it to the list would be a gross oversight, because exploring the natural world is such an essential thing to maintaining good mental health, especially amongst so much change. 

Either continue seeing my current therapist or find a new one

During the pandemic, I began working with a therapist regularly to help me manage my anxiety, panic attacks, and anything else that may attempt to interfere with me living a rewarding life. Because we started during the pandemic, our sessions have been entirely online, which leaves me in a unique situation. Because he is only licensed in Oregon, my moving to Washington could put a stop to our bi-weekly meetings, so when I move we will either need to figure something out, or I’ll have to find a new one.

Maintain regular contact with family 

From calling my parents almost every night to updating this blog regularly, maintaining contact with my family is important to me. Change can be scary, but knowing that I have so many people close to me that I can reach out to whenever I need helps quell that fear. I’ve never been the most open person, but that doesn’t mean I get to close off more while I’m away at school. If anything, I want to try to hold more genuine conversations with my parents and brother now that they won’t be physically present during my days. 

Personal Trifles 

Goals designed to improve myself in a wide variety of ways

Learn how to navigate the bus system and get into Olympia regularly

Cars are terrifying, and the thought of having to drive one is even worse, so I’ve never progressed past my permit. Luckily, students are given free rein of the bus system in Olympia! I’ve only gotten the opportunity to you public transportation a few times in my life, because Bend’s infrastructure does not match its population, but I’m excited to learn how to navigate it all. 

Make connections with local artisans and craftsmen

As someone interested in selling handmade creations at the Olympia Farmer’s Market, it’s really important for me to meet and form connections with other local artisans and craftsmen in the area. I love being around other creative people, it helps refuel my creativity and get inspired to try new things, 

Improve my handwriting

Having pretty handwriting motivates me to take notes more often. Getting to fine-tune how it looks frames note-taking as a hobby or art project in my mind, which not only helps me learn but makes it more fun!

Reflection

Taking the time to set these goals for myself has helped me feel more prepared for heading off to college in September. At the end of the first quarter of college I’ll do an update on the goals I set, reflecting on how many I met and how striving towards those goals impacted my college beginnings, but for now, these goals will serve as the basic guide for beginning a new era of my life.