Transitioning from high school to college is the initial step every college freshman must face. First-year college students all start with high self esteem. Many students with high expectations for themselves, but for most, their experiences do not match up with what they initially intended. As a student you must realize that college is much different than high school and you are going to be faced with a variety of new challenges that you have not experienced before. This occurred to me when I was placed within my first college English course, English 203. I had new faces, names, and words being thrown at me all at once. The challenge I faced was I had never done anything like what was being expected, and yet I had to face these tasks and get them done in a timely manner. As students you must not shy away from the challenges being presented. By experiencing the difficulties that trouble you and changing your way of thinking, allows you to grow as a reader, writer, and thinker.
Realization that college was much different than high school occurred when I read the first lines in the playwright, The Bacchae by Euripides. “Newly arrived in this land of Thebes, I am Dionysus, son of Zeus, whom Semele, child of Cadmus, once bore, delivered by lightning-flame” (Euripides, The Bacchae, 1-3). I sat there and pondered on the fact I knew nothing that was being presented to me. Before I engaged in the assigned reading for this course I was full of confidence and knew what work I was capable of doing. After I started reading my confidence dwindled, I questioned my place in this course and as an English concentration. Many students, like myself, go through a series of phases when they hit something that might cause them difficulties. The first stage that can occur is doubts; doubts on the course and in themselves. I thought that if I was already struggling the first week in this course I wasn’t going to be able to receive a passing grade by the end of the semester. The next phase I went through was denial. I closed the playwright, and ignored the fact that my task was to read and analyze this piece of text. I was not facing my challenge, I was pushing it to the side. Once I took a deep breath and came to the conclusion I must face what is being expected, I went to my professor. The first step in overcoming a challenge is not to be afraid of seeking help. From there, I was able to make a list of why I thought this play was difficult, what was challenging to me, and how was I going to fix this. I decided that the first situation that was stopping me from understanding the context was I did not know the background of the story line. I solved this issue by doing research about the characters being discussed and the story dealing with these characters. The final step in being able to achieve a challenge, like not understanding the text fully, is you need to stop fearing that you are wrong. Build off of group ideas, and share your thoughts. Being able to admit to others where you struggle, and listen to how they analyzed various aspects allows you to build and grow on your own ideas.
Blog posting, was the next assignment I was presented with in the first week of class. Within this assignment we were told to write blogs based on personal reflection and experience, while then connecting it to what was being discussed in class. What I initially feared with this assignment was my lack of knowledge. The lack of knowledge in the proper language in a blog post, and the lack of understanding of various pieces we were reading. I started off in the first month only posting one blog. I was not proud of my initial post due to the fact that I was unsure of what I was going to write about and the type of language I should be using. I showed lack of depth in my topic. I didn’t know how much personal experience to include whether I was incorporating too much or too little. Because of this lack of confidence I put off writing another. I compared myself to others in the class. This is a huge issue that can occur when facing challenges. You shouldn’t compare yourself to others, everyone has their own weakness in life and tasks they must overcome. I was letting this build into fear which began to take over my school work. I was not putting in the time and effort that was needed. Then as I watched others grown and continue to succeed in the class I knew I must start somewhere. As I started overcoming other challenges that I faced, like understanding texts and relating them to each other, I was able to build off of it. This is when I gained confidence to write my next blog post tilted, “Everett and Suspicious Pants Irony”. Here I was able to connect two ideas we went over in class. I compared the author Percival Everett’s style of writing, to a tweet we looked at the first day of class. I began to see growth as a reader and writer in this context due to facing my challenge. I was able to understand two separate topics and relate them to one another. As time went on I began to do this with all the pieces we were working with. For example I was able to connect the author we were reading, Percival Everett, to other topics in class. Not only did I do this with our author, but I was also able to connect various topics we discussed as a class. You can see this in two of my blog posts, “MGM VS MTM”, and “Humanities VS Science”.This technique developed into overcoming yet another challenge. I was becoming more comfortable sharing my ideas in and outside of class. By putting time and effort into understanding, and building off of your peers allows you to succeed and develop other aspects in the course as well. Using various styles of writing and ideas from your peers can allow you to develop on your own with your writing and reading skills. The product of our group blog post was a way to incorporate aspects and writing skills of multiple individuals. Being able to understand the readings, and transfer your thoughts on how the author portrayed his writing in another key development that I grew over this semester, just by committing to hard work and facing my challenges. As I faced the fear of blogging, which many of my peers discussed they faced as well, I began to transfer my ideas and connections in class to a blog format.
There is always a challenge that is needed to be faced. After you complete one problem a new one is formed. Once I began posting my blogs the more feedback I was receiving. This is where you must have aspects of a growth mindset. In my fourth blog post, “Fixed Mindset vs Growth Mindset”, I discussed the process and stages I had between the two types of thinking. A fixed mindset is individuals who believe the ability you have you are born with and those abilities cannot be changed. This creates them to view feedback in a negative way and are scared to face challenges that are presented. On the other hand, individuals who have a growth mindset believe you have control over your own abilities. These abilities can grow and develop the more you attain. Which allows these people to take feedback they are given to help them grow. Every person has their own way of thinking and interpreting their skills. Throughout the semester I have grown as a reader, writer, and thinker due to my mindset. I started off with more of a fixed mindset. I feared any element that challenged me or caused me to put in more effort that I initially intended. I viewed feedback as a threat and took it personally rather than to grow. I doubted my ideas, and compared them to others. As the semester advanced on I began to change my mindset. Further into the course I began to view feedback positively. The feedback I received from my professor and peers helped my writing excel. I no longer feared putting out my interpretations through group work and in my writing. Changing my mindset helped overcome the challenges I faced within this course. A growth mindset allows you to make progress on your capabilities.The ability I grew to connect the author’s ideas with my own was a result in changing my mindset.
People in life are faced with a multitude of challenges. In many of these situations people tend to question their abilities. Many expectations are not achieved, and failure does occur. How you handle the challenges presented results in your outcome. You must face your challenges, not hide from them. By putting time and effort into your work you will not only grow as a person, you will also see rewards. For many, like myself, the first struggle they run into is the transition from high school to college. Then as the semesters continue you will experience both large and small problems. In my case by working through my problems of not understanding the text, and how to write a blog post, I began to see myself grow as a reader, writer, and thinker.