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Calixto Fernandez

Prof. Carter

English - 1A

16 September 2020

How does Attitude Affect College Success and Overall Happiness?

During my junior year of high school, I took AP Physics so that I could challenge myself

for once. Prior to taking this class, the only science course I had taken was biology so taking AP

Physics was always going to be a difficult class to handle. I knew that I had to pass the class no

matter what because I wanted to prove to myself that I could accomplish anything that I set my

mind to. I learned about Growth Mindset and Fixed Mindsets when my AVID instructor had us

read Carol Dweck’s, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. I started to apply what I read into

my everyday life and It changed the way I approached different situations. For the first time in

my life, I was confident in myself and my abilities. It helped boost my self-esteem and as a

result, I started to feel happier. I don't think that I would be where I am today if I didn't choose to

challenge myself that year. My perseverance and self-confidence have helped me graduate high

school; now, it will be what supports me through my college success and overall happiness.

I believe that my perseverance is going to be the key to my college success. This

wouldn't be the first time I have had to overcome difficult challenges in order to be successful.

Back in high school, when I started to take AP Physics it was immediately apparent that I had no

idea what I was doing. Instead of having a fixed mindset and believing that I couldn't learn more

than I already knew, I told myself that I can learn to get better at the subject. I used to allow

myself to have a fixed mindset and it would dictate how I viewed school. I wasn't going to allow

this to happen again. I started to dedicate my lunches to going in for tutoring and little by little I
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started to understand it more. In her book Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success, Stanford

University psychologist Carol Dweck writes, “Although people may differ in every which way-

in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments-everyone can change and grow

through application and experience” (3). Dweck emphasizes the fact no one is limited to their

specific talents and attributes. I can use what I have learned from my past experiences to grow

and better myself for whatever challenge I face next. I was always a C student when it came to

math and I was worried if I could succeed in AP Physics. I wasn't going to allow that to stop me.

Even though I failed almost every test I never took it negatively or saw it as embarrassing. I

would ask myself what do I know?, what do I not know? and then that would help me focus on

what I needed to work on. It was a struggle but I was able to persevere and succeed because by

the end of the year I ended both semesters with a B. I can apply what I learned from this

experience to support my college success.

My self-confidence has boosted my self-esteem and overall happiness. If I didn't believe

in myself and my abilities I wouldn't have been able to accomplish anything during my junior

year. For a while, I didn't believe that I could get decent grades. My first two years of high

school were rough because I was barely passing any of my classes. My self-esteem was low and

I started to view things negatively because of it. During the second semester of my sophomore

year, I decided to change my perspective on how I approached school. During this time my

AVID instructor introduced Carol Dweck's teachings about Mindsets, and I applied the many

strategies I read to my work ethic. This was helpful but I also needed to have faith in myself and

believe that I could turn my grades around. I always doubted myself and listened to the voice in

my head that would tell me I couldn't do it. It was on me to decide that a change needed to be

made. In her 2019 Ted Talk, Brittany Packnett, social justice activist, educator, and writer says
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that “students have the academic skills without the confidence to use them”. I might have the

academic skills to bring up my grades but it's useless if I don't believe I have the ability to do it.

Having self-confidence allows me to complete my work with certainty. It boosted my self-

esteem and allowed me to be happy for a change. I was no longer stressed or feeling embarrassed

that I couldn't keep up with the class.

Since I started to be happier I started to have a positive outlook on life. I no longer

viewed others and myself negatively. It has carried over into my life currently and it has

benefited my overall happiness. In her book The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year

Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally

Have More Fun, Gretchen Rubin, a writer and New York City mother of two, said “I am happy-

but not as much as I should be. I have such a good life, I want to appreciate it more-and live up

to it better”. I can always improve how happy I am and I can always want to make my life the

best it's ever been. My attitude dictates how I live my life. If it wasn't positive then I wouldn't be

happy. In his book Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment, Harvard

lecturer Tal Ben-Shahar writes “What would you like to introduce into your life? It could be

working out three times a week, meditating for fifteen minutes every morning,... Introduce no

more than one or two rituals at a time” (9). Ben-Shahar explains that having a ritual allows you

to be more spontaneous instead of being reactive towards others demands. Being spontaneous

gives you time to do the things that bring you joy and pleasure. Finding a ritual allows you to

keep the emotions fresh, by constantly experiencing it repeatedly. I liked this part of the reading

because it relates to how I already live my life. I’m constantly looking for something exciting

and meaningful to myself. I like to spend most of my time working on computers and cars. It

brings me joy to work on things rather than buying materialistic items that will only give the
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illusion that I am happy. I would like to take this a step further in my future by including my

family in the things I do for fun. I already started this by showing my dad my interest in cars. He

recently bought his dream car and now we are working on it little by little to hopefully take it to

the track in the near future. At first I was happy because I found things that I was truly interested

in, but now it also comes from sharing those interests with my father.

In conclusion, my perseverance and self-confidence have affected my college success

positively. I will struggle right now but I know I can overcome any challenge that comes my

way. Without having a growth mindset to allow me to learn from my failures, then I’d be back

where I started. I wouldn't even believe in myself and my abilities not to mention that I would be

stressed and unhappy all the time. My confidence gives me the strength to not only complete my

school work but to chase my dreams. It has given me the support I need in order to become a

successful person. I no longer look for materialistic items, I rather find pleasure while working

on computers and cars. It also brings happiness into my life because I can bond over my interests

with my father. My positive attitude and self-confidence have benefited my college success and

overall happiness.

Work Cited

‌Dweck, Carol. Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success. Ballantine Books, 2008.

Packnett, Brittany. “How to Build Your Confidence -- and Spark It in Others.” Www.Ted.Com,
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www.ted.com/talks/brittany_packnett_how_to_build_your_confidence_and_spark_it

_in_others. Accessed 17 Feb. 2020.

Ben-Shahar, Tal. Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment. McGraw Hill,

2007.