THOUGHT CATALOG / UNSPLASH PHOTOGRAPHY

I thought I learned my lesson, I’m doing my assignment a day before the deadline again. 

This habit continues to follow me from high school and it gets worse and worse yearly. I want to change and in order to do that I need to grow. 

Something I’ve thought about is self-development. To change, I need to start with myself. Students across the Laurier Brantford campus engage in self-development regularly.

Mila Menna who is a fourth year English and history major. They will be graduating this year and will be continuing their education at Queens pursuing teacher’s college. 

Menna is aware that self-development is a process that does not happen in the first year of studies. 

“It is important to carve out a time on your schedule and simply do something you enjoy,” said Menna. 

Tomas Laughlin who is an instructor and holds a PHD from University of Toronto agrees with Menna that it is important to do what you absolutely enjoy. If one enjoys writing he emphasizes the importance of practicing the skill. 

“Practice makes perfect,” he said, “you do not need to do it all on your own, ask for help, the campus has writing resources, peer support groups and tutors.” 

“I’m fascinated with self-development; this is something that takes time to master and implement into one’s life,” said social worker, Stephanie Dinsmore, a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University who works as an accommodation consultant.

“When speaking with students I suggest a routine that incorporates a strong whole life balance,” she said, “with this balance I see students thriving with a schedule to manage studies, sleep, nutrition, exercise, family/friends and social time.”

Award-winning Laurier instructor Michael Akerman also agrees with the importance of adequate sleep and drinking water.

“The tips that I have for students is to get a decent amount of sleep every night, this is good for the brain, and drink water to keep hydrated throughout the day.” 

Menna also understands the importance of taking your time to complete degree, yet they mention as a senior student getting involved with campus activities to endure experiential learning. 

“For example, mindfulness activities help create a balance,” they said, “or engaging in one-on-one peer to student readings, the school offers in selective classes the opportunity to read to high school or elementary students.”

Dinsmore also practices self-development as many times a week to continue moving forward.

“I have made it my mission to incorporate self-development into my everyday life through mindfulness practices, self-awareness and gaining feedback from others,” she said,  “I use many different strategies like; reading, daily reflection, journaling, measure progress and find a mentor, ultimately, consistency is key in this practice.”

English educators Paradis and Akerman have similar mindsets and completely agree with breaking away from social media. They both are aware that students need to be mindful about their media consumption.

 “Cut out social media especially, it is time consuming, soul sucking and is one cause of why one does bad in school,” Paradis said. 

Akerman expresses his thought to students in a quote by Paulo Freire, this is the guiding principle to why Akerman teaches and it speaks about self-development. 

“Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration or the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and how to participate in the transformation of their world.”