M1S1 passion pdf PDF

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M1S1 – Passion Licenses and Attributions: “M1S1 – Passion” is a derivative of Blueprint for Success in College: Indispensable Study Skills and Time Management Strategies (by Dave Dillon). Now licensed as CC BY: Attribution. “Exercise questions” are a derivative of “College Success” by University of Minnesota licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. “M1S1 – Passion” is licensed as CC BY 4.0.

“Ganas. That’s all you need. The desire to learn.” – Jaime Escalante Exercise 1 (your content reading will allow you to type directly onto this text. Answer the following questions in 1 – 2 sentences.) How long do you anticipate being in college? I will hopefully be in college until my masters. How many courses will you need to take per term to finish college in your planned time period? I will need to take about 3 to 4 courses per term. What do you anticipate will be the most difficult part of completing college? The most difficult part for me will be the final exams or projects. Are you confident you will be able to overcome any possible difficulties in completing college? I am very conifident that I will overcome difficulties in college. Think about what you are passionate about. It might be family, friends, a significant other, a pet, an upcoming vacation, or what you might have for dinner. Different people are passionate about different things. Ask yourself: Why are you passionate about those things? What makes you passionate about them? Now ask yourself if you are passionate about school. “Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things.” – Randy Pausch There were other activities I enjoyed more than class, but I knew it was important to find a passion for my classes because it was the key to succeeding in them.

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It is common to have other things you would like to do more than sitting in class, doing homework and preparing for exams. But you still must have passion for the learning and for the class in order to be successful. My favorite definition of success is from John Wooden: “Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.” Why Are You Here? Please note: It is OK to not know what your goal is when you start college. In fact, it is extremely common for students not to know what their goal is or what their major is when they begin college, but there is value in identifying your goal(s) as soon as possible. More questions to ask yourself: Why are you in college, and why are you taking the courses you’re taking? If you can answer these questions with solid logic and understand their purpose and how they fit in to being important to your life, you are off to a great start. However, if you are taking classes at someone else’s suggestion and you are not genuinely interested in them, you may want to reconsider. I do not wish it to be misconstrued that I recommend you drop out of college, rather I want you to have a plan and passion to be able to achieve your goals. For many people, higher education is a necessary part of their goals. I see many students in my counseling office who want to be independent, work a full-time job, and/or party (rather than go to college). I also see many students who come back a few years later with a renewed passion and value for their education. For college success, you must attend when the time is right for you. How do you know if it’s the right time? Ask yourself if it’s the right time for the following students to go to college: •

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Monica’s goal is to go to a university. She was accepted but couldn’t afford it. She enrolls at a community college. She is passionate about attending community college and then transferring to earn a bachelor’s degree. Christina is a high school graduate. She would like to take a year off of school to work and travel. Her parents gave her an ultimatum, saying that if she wanted to continue to live at home, she had to go to college full-time. Javier completed one year of college then got married in his early 20s. He and his spouse raised four children and he has been working for 20 years in an uninteresting, low-paying job. He always wanted to finish college and now finally has the time to go back to school. Andy is interested in partying and little else. He knows his college education is important, but it is a low priority at this point.

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Exercise 2 – use the dropdown menus to indicated how important each of the following is to you from “1” being not important to “5” being very important. Making a good income 5 Having good friends 5 Learning new things about your interest 2 Having a nice car 3 Having intelligent conversations 1 Staying current with the news 1 Playing sports 5 Hanging out with friends 5 Playing computer or video games 3 Cooking 1 1 Online social networking Sleeping 4 Reading a good book 1 3 Traveling to new places Shopping 3 Being liked by others 3 Studying and reading textbooks 1 Having nice clothing 5 5 Watching television Enjoying time alone 4 2 Getting out in nature Working your job 5 Looking good 5 Meeting new people 2 Going to the movies 1 Eating out 2 Being your own boss 1 Having a positive romantic relationship 5 Setting your own schedule 2 Attending classes 5 Going to religious services 5 Going to parties 2 Participating in clubs and activities 3

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Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation Sometimes we are motivated by a specific desired outcome of performing a task. Some people play a game because they want to win. In education, some students work hard because they want to receive a good grade or transfer to a prestigious university. Parents of younger children may give a monetary reward for each “A” their student earns. This is extrinsic motivation. Interest, desire to learn, and enjoyment of a subject are characteristics of intrinsic motivation, or what we call passion. Passion for your education must come from within. If your educational goals (passing a college course, acquiring new skills or attaining a degree) are important enough to you, your motivation can become intrinsic, allowing you to find passion, which will help you reach your goals. Without passion, you may find yourself struggling, withdrawing from courses, earning poor grades, or dropping out. External rewards of ascending to a certain academic level or acquiring wealth, lose some of their appeal if students do not find the work to get there personally rewarding. These students, who truly embrace their work, are intrinsically motivated – passionate while those who are focused mainly on rewards for high achievement and punishment for poor performance are extrinsically motivated. Trophies, medals, money, new clothes or a new car are examples of extrinsic motivators. One could argue, “the end justifies the means”—that it doesn’t matter if a students’ passion comes internally or externally, as long as they accomplish their goals. However, when the reward is learning itself, the student is on road to long-term success! The Choice Is Yours I believe one of the best decisions you can make is to attend college if you are passionate about it and it is the right time for you. On the other hand, it is better to postpone attending college if you are not passionate about it or feel the time is not right. Please do not misunderstand – I am not discouraging anyone from going to college nor am I encouraging anyone to drop out of college. And I do not expect you to be passionate about every aspect of college. There were some classes and some requirements that I disliked during my own college experience. My concern, however, is students who start college and are not passionate about it. After a few years and a poor transcript, they meet with a counselor saying they weren’t in college for the right reasons, weren’t serious about their education, didn’t know what they were doing, or... “my parents made me go.” There are some suggestions in this class that can assist a passionate student to succeed. But all of the suggestions in the world will not help a student lacking passion. In the end, I want you to be successful and I want you to enjoy college, but I believe these are nearly impossible without passion. “Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.” – Hebbel

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Exercise 3 Check one. Which of the following are benefits of a college education? 1. A better understanding of the world 2. Developing problem-solving skills 3. Making wiser financial decisions in the future 4. All of the above Life in college usually differs in many ways from one’s previous life in high school or in the workforce. What are the biggest changes you are experiencing now or anticipate experiencing this term?

For each of the following statements, Select true or false: a. Attitude is one of the most important factors affecting college success True b. If you sit back, wait patiently, and stick it out long enough, success in college will inevitably come to you. False c. To do well in college, you basically have to give up everything else in life for a while. False d. Most college graduates later look back at college as one of the best times in their lives.

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While you won’t submit answers to questions like these for a grade, reflecting on class content is a great strategy to promote longer term retention. Try using tactics such as these in all of your classes to add more value to your learning. One strategy when beginning a course is to create a new folder on the main desktop of your computer and dedicate that folder to your course resources. For example, you should have a folder on your desktop labeled “SLS1101.” As you complete work and research for you classes, continue to add those files to the designated folder. Keep this folder even after the semester is over. You never know when you will need the information again. To save this content reading with your responses that you have supplied along the way, hit “Command S” on a Mac or “Ctrl S” on PC and save this file to your SLS1101 Folder. You won’t turn this file in for a grade, but you may use it to reference later on your quizzes or assignments.

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