My Success Habits for College
Personally, the adjustment from high school to college was quite difficult for me. Adjusting to a new city, learning how to manage my time, and developing good work habits did not come easily for me. After reviewing different types of success habits, I believe that growth mindset, trying things out of my comfort zone and competency, and being able to know who my audience is while writing are most beneficial to me and will help guide me through college.
To begin one of the first success habits that I find to be helpful for my academic career and also personal success is growth mindset. I believe that the habit of growth mindset is more beneficial as for it is a consistent way to be better yourself, as compared to grit where it is striving to only one long term goal. I prefer a growth mindset because you are able to have certain achievements in recognizing that you are able to grow no matter how difficult the challenge. In the Ted Talk given by Carol Dweck, she introduces the idea of a growth mindset. According to Dweck, a growth mindset includes people constantly developing their abilities, engaging deeply in activities, and continuing to learn from their mistakes.
A time when I used this mindset was last semester in my Psychology class. I found myself performing poorly on the first few quizzes and test. I was studying the book for countless hours a week after lectures and before tests, but no matter how long I studied I would still receive the same horrible scores. After feeling defeated many times, I considered withdrawing from the class. But I noticed that maybe reading the book wasn’t for me; I recognized I needed a change in my study habits. I started attending study sessions my professor organized and took advantage of the tutoring sessions as well. I found that being able to discuss one on one with someone helped me to understand the topics better. After those sessions, my scores improved and I was able to pass the class. This new habit helped me succeed in the class and conquer what I created as my defeat. I noticed that one way wasn’t working for me so I tried another strategy instead of dwelling on my failure. I established that the traditional way of studying wasn’t for me, further opening myself to other resources that benefited me greatly. This semester I am taking a Stats class; math is not my strongest subject. With a growth mindset I am going to “train” extra hard and learn quickly from my mistakes. Unlike my psychology class, I will go into Stats with a mindset that I am capable and able to learn new things. One setback will not be the end of the world.
Although the success habit of growth mindset will benefit me more as a student, the habit of being able to try things out of my comfort zone and competency will also help me grow personally. In the article “The Making of an Expert” by K. Anders Ericsson, Michael J. Prietula, and Edward T. Cokely they mention a critical aspect of deliberate practice is being able to push yourself to experience events that are out of your comfort zone, and that this is a necessary step to take. As a shy person, I find myself holding back from many opportunities, because I am afraid to stray away from the unknown. The authors believe this practice is necessary because we tend to be comfortable with what we already do well and we do not take the time to push ourselves to our fullest extent. We need to acknowledge the fact that we should be improving ourselves more as a person.
In college it was a goal for me to try to join clubs and organizations so I could meet new people. However, the anxiety caused by my shyness often kept me from meeting new people and out of unfamiliar environments. I decided to face my fears and join ASU, Asian Student Union, Big and Little program. During reveal day, I was separated from my close friends and thrown into a group of new people. They asked me if I wanted to join them for dinner, usually I would make an excuse not to attend, however in this moment I decided to push myself to go. By following the technique of deliberate practice, I was able to improve my social skills. This new skill allowed me to expand my abilities to a level I never thought I could reach. By getting out of my comfort zone, I was able to meet some of the most genuine and caring people that will continue to make my college experience more enjoyable. Not only can this technique be used in a social setting, I also plan to use this mindset in a classroom setting, more specifically in my Biology class. For example, I can use this technique to participate more in class, by sharing my thoughts and ideas to the class without feeling nervous of sounding dumb. Participating in class will help me stay engaged in the topics of the day; helping me to be an active learner.
Being a student that uses deliberate practice, I can also benefit from this success habit from Nancy Sommers that helps me improve technically as a student, more specifically in writing essays. Sommers stated one of the best strategies “experienced writers” use during their process is when they envision their audience reading their product, instead of creating the writing piece to be critiqued and graded. In the article “Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers” Nancy Sommers conducted a study comparing student writers and experienced writers to see the differences in the technique and mindset of the revision process. As a college student, there are many papers one must write in the majority of our classes, and we like to think that our writing is mostly above average and the ideas of revising is slim to none. Our mindset is only focused on a good grade rather than thinking about how our writing and revision strategies are improving. As I was taught throughout the years of my academic life, I was usually concerned with following certain strategies and rules in order to receive a good grade.
This is a common student mistake that I am guilty of. For example, one time during my senior year of high school I was preparing to write a personal statement paper in my AP Language and Composition Class. I vividly remember my teacher passing out the guidelines for the perfect paper. While I was writing the paper I started altering my life experiences to fit the guidelines of the paper and not writing truly about myself..When writing the paper I felt as though I was cheating myself because I knew some of these events and feelings never happened; and all in order to receive a good grade. If I had used this idea of envisioning a reader while writing this paper I could have been able to write a more honest and authentic paper. In the end, this strategy could have helped me receive a better grade then the one I actually got. After reading the graded paper, I noticed going off on quite a few tangents and my writing never truly flowed properly. Sommers strategy has made me realize I should not be writing for a grade, I need to be writing with meaning and purpose. This is a mindset I plan on using from here on out on all my college essays.
As I journey through new experiences in college, having a list of strategies and skills will definitely benefit my work ethic and help me to improve more as a student. Being able to put these strategies to work not only will help me improve as a student it will allow me to learn how to critique myself and help me grow into a great version of myself.
