6B What Have We Learned and Where Do We Go From Here?

           Over the past 6 weeks we have been learning new concepts in class, and while they all seem to be different, they all a connected to helping us become not only better at school, but helping us become better problem solvers and dealing with life in general.

The first couple of readings started off slow and were basically about how to approach coming to college for the first time and how to deal with the changing environment, but as the weeks went on the readings, in my opinion, became more relevant to us as students and I was able to get useful information from them and transfer it into the work that I am doing for all of my classes, and I think that it has helped me a lot.

           One article stands out to me the most, and that is the one about mindset, because I believe to have any of the other elements talked about in the readings you need to have the right mindset? What exactly is that? And how do I get one? The right mindset means “you are about learning, not worrying if you’re incompetent” Interview with Carol Pweck. I don’t think that there is an easy way to achieve the right mindset; it is something that you have to work at and need to work through things that don’t come easy to you.

           The past week we have talked about grit, and how it relates to being able to work through tough problems, but again comes the idea that a person can’t be gritty if they don’t have another concept we talked about, which is motivation. In the Angela Duckworth article it says, “the grittiest students—not the smartest ones—had the highest GPAs”, in my opinion, the reason why this is, is because the smart students don’t have to work as hard because things come easy to them, where as their peers don’t have that luxury and do have to work harder. It would be easy for the those students who aren't as smart to just not try, but they do try because they are motivated, whether it be extrinsically or intrinsically, they still want to do better, so because of that they become that gritty and persistent student; and as a result they get the higher GPA because they worked for it.