Growth Mindset: A New Outlook

   (Cute kitty photo from http://growthmindsetmemes.blogspot.com)  

     For this assignment, we had to learn about something called the "growth mindset". This is something I had heard of before, but I was curious to learn more about. The videos we were given were very informational as well as insightful. We had to learn about a woman named Carol Dweck and her ideas and beliefs on this topic. The growth mindset is also connected with something called the "fixed mindset" and the two are complete opposites. A growth mindset is pretty much like having an open mind, it means that you are open to new ideas and are willing to learn or try new things. A fixed mindset is the exact opposite, where you have a closed mind and are not willing to learn or try new things. I have learned about both of these from my previous psychology classes throughout college.

     When it comes to where I see myself on the fixed to growth mindset spectrum, I would consider myself on the far end of the growth side. I am always willing to learn and try new things, and I believe that my opinion is not the only one that matters. When it comes to my schooling, I have a very open mind. I believe that people get an education to learn things that are new to them, especially in college. To me, there is no point in going to school (especially college) if you have a very fixed mindset. It will be nearly impossible to learn new things and to grow yourself if you continue to let your mind be closed to everything that you are not already familiar with.

     Since I started earning my degree here at OU over three years ago, I have learned many different things about myself. The first being that I really, really, really suck at math. I will avoid math and anything related at all costs. The second thing that I have learned is that my test anxiety most definitely hurts my grades and GPA all the time. If schooling wasn't so focused on tests, my GPA would be much higher than it is. The last thing I have learned is that I do not really know how to study despite being almost done with college. But, when it comes to all of these things, I have a very open mindset about learning and trying new ways to better myself and my education. Except for math, I'm done with math forever.

     Because I am not technically a full time student this semester, I don't really have any learning goals set for myself. My main goal is to get A's in both of my online classes while continuing to work full time for Walt Disney World. Once I come back to school in January, my learning goal is to maintain my 4.0 GPA and graduate in December. The original plan was to graduate in May, but I decided that working for Disney was worth putting graduation off by a semester.