Growth Mindset

While I had never heard of Carol Dweck, her message was similar to what I have heard many times from professors. We should always look to improve ourselves, and not be happy with where we currently are, as when we do that, we stop growing and becoming better and more competent individuals. I know that I struggled to do this when I was younger, as I fell into the trap of simply doing what I needed to get by in high school, where I could do very little and still get a good grade in my classes. However, since I started college, I've worked on improving myself more and more, which has led me go from barely passing some of my classes to making the Dean's honor roll two of the past three semesters. Taking the time to discover how I learn best has paid huge dividends.

I did find the article by Alfie Kohn, What We Miss by Focusing on Kids' Attitudes, an interesting topic, because it leans a little on the way I feel about classes at times. Instead of making classes interesting and giving students something to be excited about, they seem more interested in making sure we hit our testing goals so we can have our federal funding. One of the biggest travesties in our education system, in my opinion, is that we judge kids based on where a test says they should be, not in how much they improve. A student who was already above grade level and tests 1 grade higher after  a year gets more praise than the student who started well below grade level and, through hard work and many hours of studying, reaches grade level at the end of the year. As the article says, when we only tell kids to change their mindset and that'll lead to success, it makes it seem like the system is absolute, when it really can, and likely should, change.

One of my goals for this semester is to continue to improve my GPA and reach that 3.2 mark, as well as learn as much as I can in all of my classes. After my first semester of college, I would not have believed anyone that I could get my GPA back to that level. I have also been working on improving my sleep patterns. I started as the stereotypical student, staying up until 2 AM and sleeping forever, but I've begun to learn that I feel like I perform better if I go to bed earlier (when possible) and waking up earlier. I don't have that feeling of wasting my day, even if I'm awake the exact same amount of time. It's even gotten to the point where I look at a clock and am amazed I'm done with all my goals at 11 AM! That's one of my favorite feelings instead of worrying all day about if I can get it done.

As I go through this semester, and the rest of my life, I definitely want to try and keep a growth mindset to become the most successful and best person I can be. I feel fortunate to have begun on that track while I am in school instead of once I graduate, as it's much easier to learn and change when you are young than when you've been in one mindset for years.

The true path to success.

Source: TheLeaderInMeBlog