Students and faculty created short and long-term goals for their year at a workshop on the Arnold campus on Tuesday. 

Participants at the event, hosted by First-Year Experience, created specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based goals, or SMART. 

“I think it’s good to definitely plan a few years ahead,” first-year nursing student Katherine Rivera, who is in her mid-20s, said. “I feel like if I would have had this class at 20 or 21, I feel like I could have been more successful.”

Winnie Shabazz, a student success and retention adviser, led the workshop about how students can conduct themselves and be more disciplined in the new year. 

She began the event with an icebreaker asking attendees to name the first career they ever wanted to be in and what piece of advice they would give their 5th grade selves. 

Shabazz also talked about her personal experiences with creating attainable goals and achieving them. 

Shabazz added: “When students express their needs and wants, we can predict the programs to best help the student succeed.”

Kyle Godduhn-Braaten, an orientation and first-year experience specialist, said the college wants “students to feel empowered to plan and execute their goals and really feel empowered to make the most of what they’re trying to do with their time here.”

Students said they enjoyed the speaker.

“She was wonderful,” Rivera said. “She had a lot of great information that I could use day to day.”

Some said they want to attend more events like the workshop.

“I totally would [go],” first-year humanities student Sarah Mixon said. “I’m really excited to actually. … I want to come to as many [events] as I possibly can.”