My approach of becoming successful at San Francisco State University
In our English class, we focused on the qualities that make for successful writing habits that individuals benefit from. In this unit, we analyzed the writing techniques advised by experienced writers and identified personal anecdotes that we found utilized the use of the habits/mindsets. We touched upon the mentality of completing assignments as well as recognizing mistakes we make and how to fix them. After analyzing several methods that are very effective, I found the most useful was having a growth mindset, always making revisions, and repeating a task toward mastery.
One of the first topics we covered in class were the ideas of having a growth mindset and grit. In Angela Lee Duckworth’s Ted Talk, she explains the difference between having the two. Grit is the ability and acknowledgement that you are able to complete something you started. On the other hand, a growth mindset is having the mentality that you are able to improve in a certain subject. In Carol Dweck’s presentation called “The Power of Believing You Can Improve”, she explains the difference between a fixed and a growth mindset, comparing the concepts on acting for “now” versus “yet”. Having a growth mindset allows you to have the mentality that you are are able to improve to reach a goal. That is why I believe having a growth mindset is more significant than grit because you are approaching an obstacle with an optimistic approach as opposed to just overcoming it because it is necessary.
A time when a growth mindset has helped me was applying for my high school’s AP Art class. The thought of me creating a portfolio terrified me because of how critical I am when it comes to critiquing my art work. At first, I approached this with a fixed mindset. I never submitted a portfolio before. As I saw the other student’s artwork, I started to compare my work to theirs. Doing so, made me feel a little depressed. I started to lose confidence in my own artwork because seeing the talented artists in the class, it was hard for me to identify myself with the same talent. I felt like my artwork was hidden by the other portfolios given to the instructor. That’s when I started to over think and start asking myself questions. What if I get rejected? Will the instructor not be impressed by my hard work? Will this ruin my dream of becoming an artist? With every thought, my anxiety would build up and my confidence hit rock bottom. Due to my fixed mind set, it brought me down but I knew I couldnt beat myself for it.Throughout my time in the program, I found myself accepting the work I did more and more. I was able to appreciated different types of art, including my own.
After working so hard on my art work, I submitted my application. A couple of weeks before their decision, I had an epiphany. I realized that although it was my last year in high school, I knew I would have many more opportunities to improve my work, with or without the Art program. When I returned to pick up my portfolio, I approached their decision with a growth mindset because I knew I was really dedicated towards improving my art skills. When the decisions were released, I was frightened to see if I got into the program. When I finally had the confidence to look at the decisions, I discovered that I was accepted. When changing my negative mindset to a positive one, it has helped me accept my artwork and helped me learn that art is what I’m passionate about. With this growth mindset, it gave me some reassurance for when I am doubtful of my knowledge to complete something that could be difficult.
Nancy Sommers is a Boston University Graduate that used her knowledge and understanding of college writing to lecture Harvard students in her expository reading and writing program. She studied the writing of over hundreds of students to record their improvements in writing. In her article, “Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers”, she acknowledges mistakes that students fall prone to. She also gave techniques to help students write more effective writing. A strategy I found the best was always making revisions. It taught me how significant time is in order to catch mistakes or flaws in your writing. I found this strategy to be most important after I found myself in an unfavorable position in my English Class. There was a poem we needed to write that was somewhat based on the story we were reading. Our task was to write a poem that signified a subtle meaning and/or hint to what the story is saying from the well known author, Ernest Hemingway. This was difficult at first because I had no idea what to write being almost compare to Hemingway’s work. Not to mention, I was a reckless writer as I hated revision. I despised one of the only things that could have made my work significantly better. When our poems got returned, I found out how many mistakes I had because I did not proof read. During an assignment having to do with the effectiveness of revision, I was able to adopt the perspective of a person who rereads their work because my assignment was all about strategy. After I became more open to change, I started to realize a lot of aspects of my writing that I took for granted because I did not accept the importance of revision.
In the New York Times article “The Making of an Expert” written by K. Anders Ecrission, the idea of Deliberate practice was directed on key components in improving skills. Ecrission’s study elaborated on how the different forms of Deliberate practice could potentially help college writers. However, the practices that I like the best is repeating tasks towards mastery and it worked for me because I was able to keep up my motivation to get better. When I first started playing soccer in the 8th grade, I was not good at all. I struggled with dribbling, juggling, and even just passing it to my other teammates. I would get disheartened at some points because there were teammates that were playing soccer since they were in elementary school. Because my coach had expected us to be at their preferred skill level, I felt out of place for not knowing how to do any of it. For the fact that I was not doing a great job at the sport, I took matters into my own hands and started to practice the repetitive drills we did in order to try and improve. Over time, I was able to dribble more efficiently and pass with better aim. This form of deliberate practice was the most memorable because it gave me reassurance that anyone could do anything with hard work. Going through with the repetition helps you create an adjusting mindset that always leaves room for improvement as well as victories.
Throughout this unit, I obtained a more optimistic perspective of my ability to writing assignments. I will be more motivated to work efficiently to achieve a target goal in my writing. Knowing all of this information, I will be successful in my studies while attending San Francisco State University.