Over the past couple of years in Global Challenges we have been regularly reminded of the importance of reflection for learning and growth in many different aspects of life including personal, business and academic. It's a valuable tool that I know I should be using more often, so this weekly post will be a way of keeping me accountable.

Something that happens to me, and that I think is quite common amongst a lot of people, is that when I start getting stressed out or sad, its hard to see and appreciate the positive things that are happening around me. So this weekly reflection will be a way of keeping things in perspective and forcing me to notice the good things around me when it gets particularly hard, as well as continuing to learn and grow. The format may change from week to week as I'm fairly new to this, and am still unsure what questions I should be asking myself regularly. If you have any suggestions let me know.

4 things that made me happy this week

1. Celebrating my friend's 20th birthday - Seeing and catching up with my friends from high school always makes me happy.
2. Dance Classes - Being able to go to free dance classes all week with my friends, including struggling through a hip hop routine, was a huge highlight of my week.
3. The ONA committee meeting - After sorting through the weekly business, I was able to catch up with my friends and hear about what everyone was doing. Reminiscing about old times and finding out how everyone's progressing towards their own goals and dreams makes me really happy.
4. Reading an article about my friend in Lot's Wife - Knowing that one of my oldest friends is getting recognised for his work after seeing him work so hard for so many years makes me so proud and inspires me to continue to work towards my own goals.

3 things that I am grateful for

1. Shevin and Bianca - For stepping up and taking charge of the ONA so that I could  pursue other opportunities
2. Global Consulting Group - for giving me the opportunity to learn and grow through a volunteer position.
3. My parents - for listening to me, giving me rides to places and taking care of me in general.

2 things that I learned

1. Science and Art are more connected than I previously thought - The Global Challenges trip to MUMA at Caulfield showed us that the different perspectives and ways of interpreting artwork can be applied to science to gain a deeper understanding of the world around us.
2. Global Challenges is going to be very demanding this semester - The amount and calibre of work expected of us this semester is greater than ever before, I just hope that I can stay on top of everything.

1 thing that I need to improve on

1. My motivation - This week I haven't done a good job of adjusting back into university mode and getting the motivation to sit down and study or do assignments which is something I'll need to fix if I'm going to keep on top of my work load this semester.