I was treated for anxiety a while ago in Korea, so I thought it got better. Recently, however, I feel like I meet the biggest obstacle in my life; grade. Therefore, my anxiety disorder recurred due to the stresses of my grades. The results of my tests did not come out as I intended, so I am quite stressed and worried about whether I can go to my college or not. I feel like I am an idiot more than I thought, and I even doubt my talents that I used to perform very well. People say something like “try to achieve something very steadily.” It never seemed valuable to me. Before, I looked down a person who underperformed in study since I could get quite good grade and without an effort. However, the words that people told me is valuable to me now. I recognized that motivation, mindset to try more, and process to the way of achieving success are more important than our grades because sometimes we can get really bad grades due to lack of motivations and wrong processes.
I learned the difference between growth mindset and fixed mindset, which are two different perspectives of intelligence. Fixed mindset is the view that considers that intelligence is fixed, but growth mindset which is supported by Professor Carol Dweck thinks intelligence is increasable by our effort. I was quite sarcastic about the growth mindset that intelligence can be improved. However, even if it is quite controversial that we can achieve and be better only with effort, I support this theory now. No matter how hard we try sometimes, results can be bad and also, in my case, I easily get distracted by my anxiety that I might fail. So, intelligence is not only a factor that contributes to our grades, and there are some theories and facts that I saw that support growth mindset. First of all, according to my psychiatrist, when people try to think in certain ways, neurons recalibrate the way of thinking. In short, it is possible to be better in math when we think about hard problems because our brains find new ways of learning. Second of all, the research that was conducted by Angela Duckworth from the University of Pennsylvania and a few other professors, tried to improve one’s intelligence, 40 ~60 percent was successful. Lastly, Carol Dweck said when researching the brain of students with growth mindset and fixed mindset, the brain of students of growth mindset was more heated and activated than those of students with a fixed mindset. Of course, there is some theory like ‘what percent does effort contribute to work’ by University of Michigan: Ann Arbor which was saying that only 4 percent of effort influenced success in study, while 96 percent is simply intelligence. However, they did not consider about how important our process and motivation are. Obviously, it is true that there is still limitation even with our effort, but if we are going to try with better process, and if we are more motivated than we used to, I believe a lot of things are changed. Thus, I also believe Carol Dweck who insisted on growth mindset theory in terms of reminding us how important it is to be motivated and focused on the right process with our effort. Research from the University of Pennsylvania that conducted by Angela Duckworth: www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2011/july-august-11/improving-intelligence.html
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I believe that people have their own limitations in demonstrating their abilities; as well, I, from time to time, bump up against my limitations. However, today I read an article that Professor Mangini gave us. It was about the importance of empathizing growth mindset, not fixed mindset. This impressive article stressed the importance of attitude in which we should focus on process rather than grades. It is a message that most people heard from their parents when they were children. When I got a bad grade, and when I was depressed because of it, my mom always scolded me. She indicated the reason of my failure as lack of effort. I was not a diligent student, and while I got moderate grades even though I did not put in that much effort, effort was not essential in getting grades to me. And even for the most people, it is a word we cannot easily accept. Putting more meaning in effort rather than results seems an excuse for losers.
However, I slightly started to recognize why effort is really important. Right now, I have to take exams with my second language and write my essays as well. It is stressful for me. Even if I want to express my words in English, I struggle because I cannot find the right translation for certain words in English. And I cannot get good grades, even though I make great efforts, due to language barrier. I am gradually getting the meaning of the importance of procedure rather than the result. Yet, even if I get bad grades, the reason that I have to make an effort is, I do not want any regrets in the future, and also, I do not want to make excuses for myself in the future. Some people who fail always make an excuse for their failure as they did not put enough effort. They are self-assuring by finding their excuses from their deficient effort; what cowards they are. I do not want to be a coward. Even if I would fail to achieve my goal, I want to accept my failure graciously and know I did my best. I do not deny one’s limitation in ability, but sometimes, those limitations can be attributed to traumatic experiences. For example, I have a serious anxiety when taking tests, because I ruined my college entrance exam held only once a year. From that moment, because of this trauma, it is impossible to demonstrate my full ability in any test. It is how I put the brakes on my achievement. It happens to everyone. Sometimes, our self-consciousness blocks us when we meet the wall that we make in our mind. In other words, if people jump off that wall, they can demonstrate more than expected, but it is true that there are a lot of geniuses who get perfect grades with less effort, and that makes us miserable people. However, Thomas Edison said, “Genius is comprised of 99 percent of effort and 1 percent of inspiration.” I have heard he said this on the purpose of showing off that he is the genius with 1 percent of inspiration. I personally acknowledge this quote in a different way. To me, It means not all people can become geniuses, however, some can become an acquired genius that is close to genius or a brilliant person. In other words, we can overcome limitations with our 99 percent effort. I find my motivation from this quote. Therefore, I think everyone can be a brilliant person even if we lack only 1 percent of inspiration. |
Jacob (Chan Woo Kim)
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