Growth Mindset

Is There Really Power in Yet?

By: Maria Dawson 

This particular picture stood out to me because it shows how you can always work your brain to improve it! Picture by: Xavier Vergés . 

Even though this was my first time listening to Carol Dweck speak I feel like her TED talk was speaking right towards me. I feel like I have fallen victim to the mindset of "I must have A's and a great GPA to be successful to achieve anything in life". Maybe if I had received the guidance she was explaining about in her talk I would have less anxiety about the future and already feel successful in the things I have done. Honestly, last week I was googling what the average GPA in college was hoping it would make me feel better about mine. Knowing how to appreciate my accomplishments is something I want to work on a lot within 2020 and focusing on myself was my only New Years Resolution this year. Since being at OU I have learned how to deal with new things I have never encountered before such as learning how to do things on my own and being challenged when it comes to school. After my first semester, I wanted to transfer out of OU because I felt like I was failing because I had received my first B ever in my life. However, because I have stuck it out I feel more accomplished than I have ever felt even though I am still working on it. Dweck's TED talk will now always be in the back of my mind when it comes to how I will teach my future kids and how I will view myself and how I will finish my school work. I am taking my Public Health Capstone this semester where we are working on a semester-long project about hazards in the Norman, OK area. I would like to use this new advice presented and challenge myself to really make it the best presentation and paper I have ever done because this is what I would like to make a career out of. I am excited to find out the answer to my title question myself throughout my life and this semester.