Journal Topics for College Students

Journaling is a great way for students to become self-aware. Meaning, you can learn from your journal writing. Through the words you put on paper, you can see if there are personal or academic areas in need of improvement.

Furthermore, journaling can help you relieve stress. It can also help you improve motivation, physical health, and mental health. You can let out a range of emotions while writing, from anger to joy, and it will be kept private.

Aside from these benefits, keeping a journal in college can boost your writing skills, giving you more confidence in the classroom and with assignments such as research papers.

Here are some inspiring journal topics for college students.

Write About What?

Once you decide writing in a journal is something you want to try, the next step is to figure out what to write about. Some students prefer to just start writing and let the words flow. This is called free-form writing. Other students want specific topics to guide them in their daily writing task.

Some students prefer their entire journal be focused on a single topic. For instance, some keep a gratitude journal, success journal, or prayer journal. Others prefer their journals to be motivational and include quotes and inspirational messages.

If you are someone who needs a different topic each day, then having a list of journal topics is a better fit. Writing on journal topics is structured and can help you stay focused in your writing, a good skill to have in all areas of college life.

If you struggle with choosing journal topics, keep reading. Below are many topic examples you can use. Each has advantages to help you improve personally and academically.

Describe Your Future Self

This journal topic for college students helps students think about where they want to be in five, ten or twenty years. It can help students focus on short-term and long-term goals to help get them where they want to be.

This topic can also help students take a good look at their current situation and begin to make changes as needed, to help them reach their long-term goals.

Who Do You Hang With (And How Do They Influence You)?

This journal topic for college students prompts them to evaluate their friendships and whether those relationships are positive or negative. Students may not even realize the people they hang around can be negatively influencing them.

Reflecting on friendships can help students determine which ones are beneficial and which ones are detrimental. They can then make choices to separate from the people in their lives that are negative influences.

Who Is A Good Role Model in Your Field of Study?

Most college students have picked a major and are taking courses that will lead them to a specific field of study, and to a specific career. This journal topic for college students will help them reflect on their industry and the leaders within it.

Students can discuss the characteristics and traits of their role model, and the factors that make them a good role model.

It may even encourage them to think about what type of influence they want to be once working in the field.

What is the Biggest Success You Have Had So Far?

This journal topic for college students is all about keeping it positive. Students are asked to focus on their biggest success story to date. Just remembering the experience can bring back feelings of pride and happiness.

It can also give students a well-deserved ego boost, encouraging confidence and motivation to continue reaching for success. It reminds them that success is within reach. They have done it before, they can do it again.

On A Scale of 1 to 10…

On a scale of 1 to 10, how stressed do you feel? On a scale of 1 to 10, how anxious do you feel? These are journal topics for college students that can help them assess their own mental health. It can also help them recognize they need to seek help from a counselor trained to treat mental health issues.

Too often, college students don’t realize they have mental health issues because they are too busy trying to survive. They are focused on completing assignments, studying for exams, working, socializing and everything else involved with college life.

They forget to be mindful of their own physical and mental needs. This journal topic reminds them of that.

Why Will You Succeed?

Asking a college student to write about why they will succeed helps them evaluate their own characteristics and traits that will lead to graduating from college, starting a career, and moving up in life. This journal topic for college students also helps them discover areas within their life that may need improvement.

This journal topic can serve as an affirmation that builds confidence and self-esteem. It can give them a reminder that they have many great qualities.  Today, finishing college can be challenged due to finances or personal reasons.

Writing about success can help motivate students to overcome these obstacles.

How Do You Have Fun?

Discovering how to have fun is one of the most important journal topics for college students. Finding time to play, laugh and be social has so many positive benefits to your physical and mental health.

Research has proven that laughter can reduce anxiety and help reduce depressive symptoms. It boosts serotonin and other happy chemicals in the brain and gut and improves your mood, your energy levels and even your physical health.

Conclusion

These were just a few examples of journal topics for college students – there is no limit to what you can write about as you go through your college experience.

Writing about having fun can remind students that college life is not all about their academic studies, that it is about having fun too.

Start your writing journal today using these topics. Start learning more about yourself. Get help to change areas of your life that need improvement so you can have the great college experience you deserve.