STATE OF THE STUDENT – With this year’s State of the Student promoting #nhsbettertogether, students can practice the valuable skill of gratitude off campus through the 365 Gratitude app.

While traditional journaling often ends up being a hassle, this app uses reminders to help users stick with their habits. They also have a reward system of medallions that gamifies journaling in order to keep users interested.

Their prompts are thoughtprovoking because they force you to reflect on things people often take for granted, such as recognizing the friends and family that stood by you in the past. It also encourages selfreflection through prompts that require you to identify your strengths and weaknesses. It might seem wishy -washy or too high effort to spend so much time on answering these deep questions, but they really do allow you to open up and think about things you might forget when you’re going through the motions of life.

On top of that, the design is simple but effective, specifically with the repeated placement of positive messages when opening the app. My favorite part of the design was its commitment to user stimulus with interactive activities. For example, the app-opening animation suggests that you take a deep breath to immediately get you into the relaxed, meditative mood. Daily inspirational quotes follow right after, which reinforce the positive mindset that the app encourages.

One thing that differentiates 365 Gratitude from traditional journaling is its community group chat to communicate with other like-minded people and share what you are grateful for. Other features include a mood tracker to track your progress, a gratitude jar to store your grateful moments and a personal messaging AI called Joy to chat with. Through the usage of these features, users are given incentive to stick to their journaling habit and keep up their score streaks.

Overall, the app is an excellent way to reflect on your loved ones and experiences while tracking your state of mental well being, costing $2.99 monthly for the yearly plan or $5.00 monthly for the regular plan to access. Prior to paying, there is a free seven day trial that allows you to explore the app. Try it out and see how you like it! You might be surprised by how much a bit of daily journaling and reflection can help give you that sense of gratitude.

And for those who would rather not pay, Jour is another journaling app that is more basic, lacking many of 365’s features but capturing the essence of the app. Instead of the stories and prompts with 365 gratitude, the journaling is broken up into specific sections, focusing on one question at a time. This allows for users to reflect more in depth and with the user-friendly design, Jour is easy to use. Another benefit of Jour is the small journaling sessions called Journeys that are geared towards a certain topic like self-love, letting go, and the power of gratitude.

I would definitely recommend either app to anyone who wants to get into the empathetic mindset or for those who are struggling to stick with journaling.