Having a connection to your goals, passions, interests and internal factors that motivate your decisions. Purpose drives your reasons for choosing UGA, deciding on your major, working and volunteering where you do, and finding overall fulfillment with your life.

Having a connection to the factors and people that are important to you. These can include things like racial, ethnic, and gender identities, as well as other identities like being a veteran or an out-of-state student. Fostering relationships and spending time engaging with those identities help you stay connected to those parts of yourself.

Allowing yourself to have pleasant experiences with people that you enjoy. Introverted people often imply that they don’t need to fulfil their social needs. In reality, because we are human beings, we are all social creatures and have an inherent need for connection. However, each of us has a different level of what that connection looks like. It’s important to get a sense of what social connection looks like for you and then work to prioritize that as an element of well-being.

People often think about physical well-being and assume that we are talking about just eating right and exercise. We also want to encourage you to consider that well-being goes beyond that, and includes things like getting enough sleep, attending preventative medical appointments, and not waiting until you get sick to go to the doctor.

Financial well-being is a significant part of general wellness. When you aren’t in a good place financially, the stress is felt across all areas of life. Students often share that they have a reduced sense of autonomy over their finances because of limited opportunities to make money, or being dependent upon family for financial support. However, we want students to realize that they do have the ability to learn to take small steps to regain a sense of autonomy. Additionally, there are a number of resources on campus to assist in making sure that financial barriers don’t keep you from reaching your goals, and Well-being Resources can help connect you to those.