6B: Recurring ideas???

Do you have a plan to reach success? Are you determined to tackle anything that gets in your path? Will you put in the work and fight till the end?

One of the articles that were assigned this week was “Angela Duckworth and the Research on ‘grit’ ”by Emily Hanford. It informs the reader that grit means dedicating yourself to and working at something until you have fully accomplished it. “There are smart people who aren't high achievers, and there are people who achieve a lot without having the highest test scores” This stresses the idea that it isn’t just talent that gets people places but that desire and persistence does too. Carol Dweck would associate this with mindset and how people with growth mindsets even if not very intelligent will take on challenges to their best beside the point that it’ll be difficult. In return this can also relate to Brené Brown’s piece on vulnerability because it shows that by taking risks and challenges you allow opportunity for growth, change and advancement.

In Duckworth’s speech she advises us to pick something and stick with it or else we’ll become like a “pretty shiny boat that goes fast nowhere”. This ties back into “The Indispensable Importance of Setting Goals in College” by Dennis Congos, which explains that by setting goals you’ll have something to aim towards and help avoid the feeling of doing meaningless tasks. “If you have no goals, you are apt to feel like you aren't getting anywhere in college, and you are definitely not in control of your life's direction.” .It is important for us to have goals so we can give our work a purpose and measure our progress. If we meet obstacles or make mistakes on the way we must continue on and learn from them, as Dr. Brian Goldman mentioned in his talk “most of the greatest successes in medicine come from failure’’. We shouldn’t let are weaknesses get the best of us instead we should be aware of them and try our best to overcome them without ever giving up.

 
This week’s readings gave insight on some important concepts involved in achieving success not only for us as college students but also for the long term of our lives. As we continue to read new material each week certain ideas seem to start overlapping and becoming more related with each other. This goes along with the fact that there is not just one definite aspect to being successful but several different ones that combine together in making the chances greater. We must set our goals, work hard, face challenges, and keep pushing forward until we reach them only then will everything pay off (delayed gratification).

6I.21: The possibilities of Art

While visiting the Ralph Earl Hall Fine Arts  I came across this piece of art by Steven Burian which depicts several insects in between some grass and a small plant with leaves. At first I thought of it as just a portrait to demonstrate certain drawing techniques but then I formulated my own interpretation of the image. I stood there and stared deep through the glass display straight into the illustration in front of me. After a couple of minutes I thought of how it could relate to something in life. I concluded that the grasshopper in the center of the picture could symbolize moving ahead and taking risks because they can only jump forward and they constantly take great leaps without knowing for sure if they’ll land where they planned. Another thing grasshoppers are known for is being a symbol of good luck. One of the great things about art is that there are several possibilities of how we can interpret it.

6V: Persistence

Persistence means to not let the struggles or difficulties stop you from achieving what you want. It is the gas in your tank that keeps you going even when the road gets tough. It is what makes you get back up no matter how many times you have fallen. It is the process of not quitting and always working towards accomplishment no matter what happens.

An interesting word I learned this week is loquacious. It means to be talkative or chatty. I had never heard this word before but after one of my professors brought it up in class I was surprised to learn its meaning.

Another word I discovered the meaning of this week is futile. It means to not be of use or to be meaningless or unproductive.

6A: What’s wrong with your face?

When I was in the first grade I was diagnosed with Lyme disease. My sisters noticed a twitch in my face muscles and they thought I was doing it purposely. They kept scolding me, and telling me to stop doing that to my face. They picked on me till the point one day I broke down crying, and then they noticed there was really something wrong because there was still something strange about my face. That’s when they pointed it out to my mom and I went in for a doctor’s appointment. The doctor figured out quickly that half of my face was experiencing paralysis a symptom of Lyme so they took blood work to confirm it. However, they never found a bullseye or any sign of a tick which was uncommon with most cases of this disease.

They started treatment but it didn’t work at first and my face continued to get worse. At this point it was extremely noticeable and more severe. My eye on the side of the paralysis lost almost all of its ability to blink and I had to apply eye medication and wear an eye patch. As you can imagine having half of my face paralyzed and wearing an eye patch made me look incredibly awkward, and my fellow first graders weren’t the best at playing it off. They would ask me “what’s wrong with your face?” or “is your face gonna stay stuck like that forever?”. I remember hearing one girl saying I looked like Sloth from the Goonies movie. These things made me feel horrible I didn’t feel comfortable in class but I tried my best not to let it show. I knew I couldn’t miss anymore school or else I would fall behind and have to repeat a year. That’s when persistence came in the picture. Even though some days I felt down, I would regain my strength and still come back the next day. Eventually, my face started to get better and I learned to look back and laugh about it.

There are several things I gained from this experience. First of all I am so grateful that they caught it in time and that I was fortunate enough to make a full recovery, I am aware that some people get stuck with some permanent paralysis. I’m also glad that I was able to develop a sense of humor and gradually move past the embarrassment. Even though I was quite young I learned that life has its rough moments but that we just have to keep moving forward and not let them get the best of us.