Ailyn Maung

Hnou Lee
Ethnics 21
November 15, 2022

Online Session: Week 12

For this week’s online session, we were provided a reading by Popova - Fixed vs.
Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets That Shape Our Lives. While reading the article, there are
three passages that I can mainly agree with. The author in the reading states “Why waste time
proving over and over how great you are, when you could be getting better?” This is a passage I
can agree with because I can relate to it in my own personal experiences. Growing up with a
strict mother, she would tend to “show off” how successful she was compared to my dad (who is
now her ex-husband.) The reason she would do this is because she was always scared I would
choose my dad over my mom. My dad is the more supportive parent out of the two but my mom
would always claim that my father could be more supportive, but not financially. Another
passage that was stated was “When you enter a mindset, you enter a new world. In one world -
the world of fixed traits - success is about proving you’re smart or talented. Validating yourself.
In the other - the world of changing qualities - it’s about stretching yourself to learn something
new. Developing yourself.” I feel like this passage can relate to some of the things I have
currently faced while living in Sacramento. As a person, I try to surround myself with positive
and genuine people, but some of the people I have met and invested my time into have proved
me otherwise. With my new friends, they have tried to prove to me how they are such “perfect
people,” while I on the other hand try to be optimistic and say there is always room for
improvement upon yourself and even if you think you are a good person, you can always be
better. Another last passage I can really relate to the most is “In one world, failure is about
having a setback.” This passage specifically, I think I can put this towards myself, that is only
because I believe every time I am going through good things and something bad happens I take it
personally. For example, currently with feeling like I don’t have reliable friends, I take that as a
sign that maybe I should transfer back home to Monterey because not everything in Sacramento
is working out. Based on the reading, I know I have a fixed mindset. I think this is because
although I am very optimistic about possibilities, I tend to be stubborn with the way things
should be. Comparing fixed vs growth mindset and passive vs active learning, I feel like having a
fixed mindset is like passive learning, because you are set with learning things traditionally like
memorizing. With a growth mindset, it is like active learning because you are open to different
ways to learn like interacting with your peers and faculty. I think when it comes to formulating
and advancing your own education, you have to have a growth mindset. With a growth mindset,
you have a better understanding and are optimistic when it comes to exploring different
education aspects, classes, majors, and really just exploring your education opportunities.