Bi-annual Workshop showcases goal setting, mental health

LINDA PUGA
campus editor

The 11-week fall semester Trailblazer Leadership Academy at TR Campus is in full swing as
students meet via Microsoft Teams for weekly sessions where they hear from speakers from different universities and professions, gaining valuable skills in a newly added project hosted by student activities.

Week four’s speakers from

The University of Texas at Permian Basin included Diana Ortiz and Davorian Marion, in a presentation titled “Bee Kind to Yourself & Plan Ahead,” Bratcher said.

The leadership workshop started with the importance of goals, and Marion highlighted the
importance of setting both short and long-term goals.

“It is crucial that goals are realistic,” Marion said. “Goals provide focus and help measure progress.”

Setting goals can help with making big changes and helps manage time, said Ortiz, along with providing an example of a short-term goal such as to drink more water or save money.

Students engaged with the speakers when asked about what their current short and long-term goals consisted of, with answers ranging from less procrastination to eating healthier to becoming financially stable enough to have an apartment.

Going along with the bee theme of the presentation, the next topic was all about making students’ honey.

As students learned, honey stood for hope, open mind, nice, enthusiasm and you bet attitude, and are important for goal setting, Marion said.

“Goals are like H.O.N.E.Y to our lives,” Marion said.

Ortiz touched on the importance of being proud of your progress along the way, and the impact failing has on your motivational drive.

“I love to fail. Failing is OK. It allows me to know that way didn’t work out,” Ortiz said.

Questions like “what fuels your goal,” and,”who does it benefit” were asked for students to ponder on as Ortiz followed that with sharing a bit about her and her husband’s weight loss journey to speak on intentionality with goal setting.

“Reinforce your why by being intentional with your everyday actions,” Ortiz said.

To conclude the session, Marion spoke on the importance of mental health during this season of quarantine isolation and added college stressors.

“We all react differently to stressful events,” Marion said.

To better take care of your emotional health, Marion recommends taking time to unwind, connecting with others, and having a community to rely on.