Growth Mindset

I have never heard of Carol Dweck before, but I have recently heard about the growth-fixed mindset. Before watching the videos, I only had a rudimentary idea of what it exactly was. This was because I learned of it after skimming through my biochemistry professor's syllabus this semester.

In other aspects of life, I would say that I have a growth mindset. I am very open to trying new things. It might take a me a while to build up the courage to try something new, but I always strive to overcome my obstacles and attaining new skills or experiences. In my schoolwork, however, I am not sure where I would put myself on that spectrum. When I am studying for a challenging course, I love it. I love it when I learn something new or when I am able to integrate my newly found knowledge into an everyday task; however, when it comes to the test-taking part, it's an entirely different story... Before I came to college, that is. When I was in the middle of a test that I was breezing through and I reached a portion the test where I had no idea what the answer was, I immediately panicked and kind of shut down (like oh no, I don't know this answer. That's it. I'm done for. Finito). Like Dweck mentioned in her TEDTalk about how the fixed mindset students' brains shut down, that's exactly what my brain did. But after four semester at OU, I have become able to adapt to those situations and rationally think through the problem when I get stuck. I feel that from kindergarten through high school, the emphasis is always focused on the grade rather than the amount learned, so I completely agree with Dweck's argument. There are many different ways to determine mastery of a subject rather than just a pencil and paper test and schools don't cater to that difference in learning style. That's why before I came to OU, I had a completely fixed mindset. But now, through my experiences thus far, I believe I have become less fixed. It's funny... in college, I learned how to learn.

I feel that I would like to learn more about the growth mindset because it can open new doors for people to excel in many aspects of life. I think I would like to try to talk about the growth mindset with my peers in the "Talking about Mindset" and see what their opinions are and what kind of mindsets they possess.

My personal goal for this semester is to do well in my classes (especially Intro to Biochemistry, because I have heard that class is a doozy)
and stay on top of everything. This year will be a little more difficult for me because I am taking up a part time job whilst studying and maintaining my positions in various extracurricular activities, which I've never done before. It worries me a bit that I won't have 100% of my time contributed for just studying, but I hope that I can find a way to make it work. Other people have, so I should be able to as well, right?

Courage doesn't mean you don't get afraid. Courage means you don't let fear stop you.

Meme by Laura Gibbs. Source: Growth Mindset Memes