Growth Mindset: Growth Beyond School

This year school year, I have served as a program director for the Union Programming Board, and I can say with 100% confidence that it has been the single most challenging thing I have done in college. It has pushed me in so many ways, and I have seen growth in myself that I would have never imagined. Being able to call me a leader is something I never thought I would be able to do. Yet, here I am, two events down. I have seen growth in time-management skills, growth in empathy, and growth in self-confidence. My own mother was telling me today that it astounded her, and many others from my hometown, to see me flourishing the way I am. This was simply something so out of character for incoming freshman Todd.

Next year, I see even more growth for myself due to UPB. I will be taking on a new role on the executive board -- public relations director. Now, I get to learn a whole lot of new stuff. How to brand an organization, how to effectively use social media, how to market an organization so that we can attract more members, and so on. This is new territory for me, but I believe the growth will be worth the effort.

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Week 8 Growth Mindset

This class has really been beneficial in allowing me to have the growth mindset. Without a course like this, I would never even dream of taking a creative writing class. I like to stick to what I know and what I've experienced before. However, with the freedom this class offers, I actually can focus on growth rather than trying to reach performance-based standards. I actually find myself wanting to challenge myself because I know that if I do poorly, there aren't many repercussions. I can just try again the next week; there's nothing in place to discourage challenge. One weakness I'm trying to better overcome with this class is putting off assignments until the last minute. So far, that's not really worked. But my goal for the second half of the semester is to start working ahead. This class allows for that to happen, I just need to take advantage of it. Another thing that I like about this class is that I don't feel like I need to perfect each assignment. Usually, I try to make my work flawless. But with this class, I can build upon my skills each week, over and over. If I don't get how I like it the first week, I can try again the following week. Or I can try something new and see if I like the new way better. Next semester, I hope to also experiment in my writing more than I already am. I've tried new things. But I want to never settle for what's comfortable. And again, this class is perfect for that. Concerning the readings, I've exposed myself to a lot of different cultures and their stories simply because there was nothing to worry about by choosing something unfamiliar. I've read stories I'd never imagine reading in a class, and I have actually rather enjoyed many of them.

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Growth Mindset

I had not heard of Carol Dweck before this assignment, but I have heard of (what I now have a title by which to call it) the growth mindset. "Praise the effort not the result." Starting college, I would say I had a black-and-white fixed mindset. The credit goes to high school. How are you compared to your peers? GPA and class rank. It's about quantifiable differences in the students. I had it drilled into my brain that grades are all that matter. They're what get you high test scores, which gets you scholarships for college. I'm sure this routine wasn't designed with the intentions of conditioning students to not challenge themselves or to not take risks. But it was a side-effect, and we must now deal with it. However, like the video explains, we cannot solely treat the symptoms. In other words, we can't just tell everyone "C's get degrees!" to try and get students to challenge themselves. Instead, we must treat the "disease". Start way back where these mindsets first take hold -- at a young age.

Coming into OU was weird because I would hear a bunch of support for challenging myself while simultaneously hearing how important grades still are. These two ideas seemed, at first, to contradict each other. But that was because of my fixed mindset. Now I get it. Challenge yourself and you'll still do fine because you're putting in the effort. It's been a hard process to try and switch mindsets. At first, I was always looking for the easiest classes to fulfill requirements. After taking a few challenging courses, I see how much more rewarding they are. High school me would have scoffed at the notion of taking a perspectives class (a class that was primarily essay based and full of reading). But in hindsight, it's one of my favorite classes I've taken, and I accredit that to the challenges I faced.

This idea of a growth mindset is a rather fascinating thing. I've always had a competitive drive, and I've been satisfied with what that has brought me. But to know there's an arguably better way? Why aren't we pushing that?! Even if I don't (yet) naturally embrace challenges, I do try to be aware of it and force myself into challenges. I have three courses this semester that involve quite a bit of writing. That makes me uncomfortable. Really uncomfortable. But I know my writing should improve. And maybe I'll ditch the habit of putting off writing assignments! I hope that I someday enjoy the uncomfortable.

Source: Growth Mindset Memes. Image generated by Cheezburger