Angela Duckworth, a professor who studies the aspects of student success, portrays the definition of GRIT as “passion and perseverance towards the achievement of long-term goals.” Duckworth closely relates GRIT to having a driven passion towards achieving your future and withholding stamina throughout. While some students strive for success in their education, others have no tolerance for the concept of school. College students’ attitudes towards their education inversely reflect on Duckworth’s remarks by empowering them to work towards success with proper self- motivation, consistency, and a growth versus fixed mindset.
College students’ attitudes towards their education over the past decade have changed drastically. Many students are school driven with little distractions, others for the same reason have this mentality that college is all fun, games, and partying when it should be the time to focus on the long-term goals and succeed. Duckworth mentions in her video that “IQ was not the only difference between the best and the worst students.” The students that take time to study, obtain the proper knowledge, and apply it in a motivational perspective will be the most successful. Angela also states that “doing well in school and in life depends on much more than just learning easily and quickly.” This quote sparked my attention because although school is one of my greatest challenges, I do know that throughout the course there will be hardships and bumps in the road that education and life throw at you. Some students have the tendency to let these belittle them and cause a fixed mindset that failure is permanent and that there is no recovery from it. Learning the material at school is challenging and can take time, so staying motivated can ease the process. It is best that students always remember who they are striving for and their purpose for their drive which helps to maintain a positive outlook.
Meanwhile, the attribute of self- motivation and consistency within students can help relate to Duckworth’s influencing remarks from the video. Duckworth states that “students can learn the information if they work long and hard enough; it might be hard but it is not impossible.” This quote brings influence on students to never give up while pursuing their dreams. Having such aspects can help maintain a positive attitude and outlook on education and everyday life. What I’ve noticed within students is that some expect an easy A while doing little to no work, and others study the material day in and day out. How do students manage to succeed if working towards their future reality is all a blur? My thoughts on this are that although obtaining the proper education can be difficult and a challenge, having the drive and motivation for your success while maintaining consistency will help students to overlook the challenges faced.
Given these points, success within students is not achieved if they are stuck on a fixed mindset; maintaining positivity throughout while having confidence to become successful can help students work towards the growth mindset. Students like to believe that having a certain talent can make them better or more successful than one another, yet Duckworth claims that “talent does not make you GRITTY.” Yes, some students are better at certain things than others, but on an educational perspective, having that driven passion for your goals will drastically help you become one step closer to success. Withholding a fixed mindset is being stuck on failure and being incapable of moving on, learning, or overcoming certain challenges. I have noticed that students with this type of mindset are the ones that want to receive an education, rather than claiming education as their own. Having a growth mindset helps influence students to claim their education as their own by allowing one to get the most out of their study. A growth mindset is facing failure with the opportunity to change with effort, accepting and being willing to fail, yet overcoming those failures and moving on no matter what. Duckworth says that students with this kind of mindset are willing to “start over” and are “much more likely to persevere when they fail.” I strongly agree with this because like myself and others, I have failed classes and tests, bombed essays, and yet have still managed to continue pursuing my education. I have changed my outlook on failure throughout my course and it has made me a significantly stronger person in pursuing my career. When I am knocked down by a challenge, I quickly face them open handedly and look forward with relentless commitment to my goals; that is how I manage to stay motivated with a growth mindset.
While focusing on what helps make students successful, I have managed to obtain a few strategies that I find helpful in the midst of my education. Becoming an active learner over the past few semesters has helped me become more organized and make note of important due dates, communicate effectively with professors, and reach out for help when stuck on something. I have noticed that some students at Richland Community College go into their educational course discouraged because they think they are not smart enough, or are unable to afford to go to their university of choice. Others take advantage of the lower tuition, how convenient it is, and obtain the most out each class due to smaller class sizes. Several students I have met over time approached me with statements such as “school is not for me” or “I do not need a college degree to be successful in life” which blows my mind because those are only excuses to avoid the good path in life. I was given the opportunity to take a course called EDUC my first semester of college which taught me a lot about what perspective to take on my education, about the concept of GRIT, and how to better your learning skills. After speaking with professors, advisors, and graduate students about what I want to become, my strive for success has increased dramatically. Several of them said that “although school is one of the biggest challenges, the overall outcome makes every step of the way worth it.” This influenced my decision on what I wanted my career to be and how I would obtain it after community college. I now want to transfer to TWU and get my Bachelors in Science in Nursing and then become a CRNA (Certified Register Nurse Anesthetist) after getting my Masters in Science in Nursing at TCU. My family is also my drive and motivation to succeed because I want to be the first in my family to get a degree, and I also want to make them happy and provide them with more than they did for me while pursuing my dreams. I also pay for my education because I do not have the wealthiest family which gives me every reason to get everything I can out of college and make it my best.
When I reflect upon Angela Duckworth’s video about GRIT, I concluded that contemporary college students’ attitudes toward their success through education is determined by steady motivational support, maintaining consistency at all times, and approaching education and life with a developing perspective. Life is not perfect and throws several challenges in its’ way, but facing it with passion and perseverance will help accomplish those long term goals throughout. Students will never succeed if they let unexpected obstacles distract their path for success, but the ones that overcome failure and push through it, are likely to be the most successful out there.