Growth Mindset: DREAM

I decided to create an acronym that I can work with for the remainder of the semester to reach my goals and remind myself that you can never dream too big of a dream. Time and time again, I've felt like I couldn't obtain something or get somewhere, but it always ends up working in the end, even if not exactly how I planned. I try and remind myself to continue to dream even when it seems unobtainable, because only the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world ever really do.

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Growth Mindset: My Motto

"It's our motto."
"What's a motto?"
"Nothing! What's a motto with you??"

Disney jokes aside, this week is a stressful one like I've mentioned in a couple of my other posts tonight. There's been a lot going on at home and just stress of school of course, but I like to remind myself that there is always a reason to hope and a reason to be joyful. My motto for this week is inspired by the book of Job in the Bible, and it is "After darkness, light." I believe that there is light in the midst of the darkness and at the end of each dark period, so I'm expectant for what's to come!

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Exploring Growth Mindset

A quote that always makes me smile to myself and puts a little more umph in my step is from Thomas Edison, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Edison is not concerned with what has gone wrong and is not limiting himself by what he hasn't perfected, but is ready to persevere, or as Carol Dweck would say, he's focusing on yet. 

I hadn't heard of Dweck prior to this assignment, but I am encouraged by her focus on what is to come. I think that in high school, I certainly had a fixed-mindset. My sole goal was to get perfect grades, be valedictorian, and get into the school of my dreams. However, I did those things and was unhappy still. It wasn't until I came to OU and began focusing on the opportunities out there, both in school and out of school, that I realized there is so much more to life than perfectly understanding everything. If I knew how everything worked and was never challenged, how boring would that be?

I would be lying to say that I'm thrilled that I don't understand everything in my classes, that fact still scares me sometimes, but I've been working on myself to be excited about what I don't know. Just yesterday, I sat through the introduction of my Animal Development lab and grew overwhelmingly concerned as they explained that throughout the semester each group would pick a gene of focus in Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies) and try to figure out what it's purpose is. The catch is, most of these genes have never been studied before. As I sat in panic for a bit, I realized the opportunity that is there. By working with something I've never done, and possibly nobody has, I am going to learn so much more about biology than just doing a fixed lab every week where I could easily google what's going to happen. After watching these videos with Dweck, I grew even more intrigued as I thought about the possibility. It is likely that I will be overwhelmingly challenged this semester in that lab, but I will learn and the possibilities are endless.

(A meme that I hope to embody this semester! Web source)