Dear Dartmouth, 

Happy New Year and welcome to winter term!  We hope that you were able to find some rest and respite over the past few weeks of winterim. 

As we enter into a season that is often associated with a sense of dormancy, darker days, and cold temps it can be quite normal for some folks to experience trepidation about the coming term.  How will I get by with less sunlight?  What will it be like to trudge to class with all that snow?  Will I be able to stay engaged when my energy slumps?  

Others of us may be super psyched about all the opportunities a New England winter offers.  All that beautiful, glistening snow! Skiing! Ice Skating! Sledding!  Cocoa! 

Wherever you are on the winter-opinion spectrum, what we all hold in common is the real potential and capacity to flourish and thrive even in the throes of uncertainty and challenge. By taking time to bring intention and action to the factors associated with thriving at college, we not only support our academic success, we can also experience a deep sense of belonging, connection, and mental wellbeing. 

“How” you might ask?  Welp, what is inspiring and encouraging to realize is that the areas that are connected to thriving college students –  (1) engaged learning, (2) academic deter-mination, (3) positive perspective, (4) diverse citizenship, and (5) social connectedness – are all factors that represent an “…element of academic, intrapersonal, or interpersonal thriving that has been empirically demonstrated to be amenable to change within students, rather than a fixed personality trait over which we have little control.”

In other words –  research has shown that you have the power to actually create and strengthen these qualities in your life.  They are changeable and not some out-of-reach, unrealistic thing we can never acquire!  But that change doesn’t just happen.  To see these elements come more alive in your life, it requires self-awareness, motivation, belief, and most of all – deep intention.  

That’s why all term, we’ll pay special attention in creating specific intentions around the aforementioned factors in order to build the foundation needed for the concept of thriving and flourishing to be felt more fully and authentically in each of our lives. 

And there’s no better time to start this process than NOW!  Before setting intentions, it can be really helpful to notice where you already are on the “thriving spectrum”.  So to begin: 

• Notice how each of the following have recently been showing up in your life:
  
  
  • Engaged Learning – you are meaningfully processing what happens in class, energized by what you are learning, and continuing to think about it outside of class.
    
  • Academic Determination – you have academic goals you are working towards and are able to wisely invest effort, time, and learning in the direction of those goals.
    
  • Positive Perspective – you remain realistically optimistic and view setbacks and challenges as areas to learn and grow.  You notice the positive in yourself, others, and the environment.
    
  • Social Connection – you are in healthy relationships, on or off campus.
    
  • Diverse Citizenship– you desire to make a difference in the community around you, as well as have openness to differences in others.
    
    
• Now, without any judgment, observe what factors you already feel quite strong and steady in, and which ones could use a bit of a boost. 
  
  
• From there, choose just one to focus on, and ask yourself “How do I want to see this come more alive in my life”? 
  
  
• See what comes up for you. And when a shape of an idea appears, consider what steps, even the smallest ones, that you can start taking that will lead you in the direction of those qualities you seek to have more of in your life.
  
  – that’s the very beginning of bringing intention and eventual change into your life.  Well done!
  

Stay tuned all winter term as we continue to explore this even more!