Not-So-Humble Beginnings
In high school, I was the valedictorian of my class. I will admit I reveled in the title quite a bit, given I never studied very hard. I was even more exultant after being admitted to UCLA, my top college choice. Little did I know, I was in for a rude yet necessary awakening.
A word of advice to my incoming college freshman with superiority complexes: I hate to break it to you, but the university you attend will have students equally intelligent, accomplished, and competitive as you are. Trust me. I’ve learned that the hard way. Within the first few weeks of my first quarter, I contemplated dropping several of my classes, experienced imposter syndrome, and cried countless times over grades. I felt inferior to my peers who thrived in subjects I struggled with and felt insecure when I learned of the prestigious internships and leadership positions they secured. I was the same student I was in high school, yet I now struggled with school work. Had I doomed myself by attending a prestigious university?
One day, post-mental breakdown over a chemistry assignment, I met a neighboring classmate for lunch to discuss studying strategies for our upcoming midterm. After learning she had set the curve for our last exam, I revealed how hopeless I felt and expressed my belief that my fate was only to become a failure. To reassure me, she told me the untold story of her success in a class where most students were deemed unsuccessful, myself included.
The Chemistry of Success
In high school, this classmate had struggled with chemistry in her sophomore year. Stoichiometry gave her headaches, while thermodynamics made her cry, and equilibrium caused her to cringe. Yet, like me, she desperately wanted to go to UCLA. Unlike me, this classmate had developed what is known as a “growth mindset.” Despite her initial poor performances in the class, she persevered. Those with growth mindsets permanently improve their intelligence and ability to learn new skills through hard work, training, and perseverance. As opposed to myself, I had developed a “fixed mindset,” a mindset that assumes our character, intelligence, and creative ability are static, meaning we can’t change in any meaningful way. She contended that my academic performance was attributed to the fact that I didn’t view failure as a lesson, rather a reflection of my self-worth. The lack of acknowledgment and recognition I gave the mistakes I made on assignments and tests was why I continuously repeated them. I needed to reject my high school notion of being naturally gifted. Instead, I needed to accept the idea that my intelligence was not innate, and there was always room to improve.
I went home that day entertaining her proposition and decided to follow her advice. The following week, I called her to discover we had set the curve for our chemistry midterm.
Dismantling the College Campus Complex
In 2007, Stanford psychology Professor Carol Dweck coined the term growth mindset. A growth mindset describes people who believe that their success depends on time and effort. Furthermore, they embrace challenges, persist through obstacles, learn from criticism, and seek out inspiration in others’ successes. They tend to achieve more than those with a more fixed mindset (those who believe their talents are innate gifts). This is because they worry less about looking smart, and they put more energy into learning. Professors and college students should embrace the concept of maintaining a growth mindset instead of worrying about how those around them might react to their shortcomings. By promoting this mentality, college students’ mental health statuses, academic performances, and relationships amongst one another would improve dramatically. With the lack of competition and reassurance guaranteed by implementing a universal growth mindset on college campuses, we could foster an upcoming generation of revolutionary innovation.
Whether you are an incoming college freshman, a high school freshman, or maybe even my chemistry professor, understanding the importance of developing a growth mindset impacts not only an individual’s academic performance but all aspects of their life. Failure and setbacks are inevitable and can be frustrating, but your mindset will determine whether you choose to avoid the challenge or embrace it and grow.
Written by Alexandra Sugatan
