In a world that is ever expanding and ever shifting, how can we expect the young minds of college students to learn how to excel and be productive in a society that just won’t stand still? The key to advancement in an ever changing world can be found in the ability to think straight. Our success and growth here in this mortal world is undeniably dependent on our ability to think clearly and proficiently. Through clarity of thought, we can unlock the ability to take correct action as we make vital decisions throughout the course of our lives. The entirety of an individual’s future is dependent on their ability to think straight. A mind made up of jumbled up thoughts and ideas is comparable to driving at night on a road without any light to guide …show more content…
We cannot expect to think clearly and make correct decisions without a proper groundwork set in place. To obtain meaningful knowledge, we must first emulate humility and rid ourselves of pride; “in meekness we are teachable, prepared for spiritual tutorials. In pride, however, we can’t even discern our need for growth because we think we already know everything” (Learning Our Theology). Pride is our worst enemy in the pursuit to obtain meaningful knowledge. We must be willing to accept that we do not know everything and that there is always room for growth. As college students, it can be incredibly frustrating when we feel as though we cannot grasp new concepts and ideas right off the bat. We live in a world of instant gratification, which in turn can play a part in our want and desire to receive instantaneous knowledge. Meekness will arm us with both the ability to be patient and submissive throughout the process of learning. Through meekness and humility, our mental growth will be heightened and we will be able to think clearer. However, meekness and humility, although vital, cannot stand alone. We need to be consistent throughout the process of learning, growing, and thinking …show more content…
Thinking is work. . . . Sloppy and inconclusive thinking becomes a habit. The more one does it the more one is unfitted to think a problem through to a proper conclusion” (After I Was Sixty, London: Hamish Hamilton, 1975, p. 106 Thinking Straight). We are what we eat, likewise, decisions are formed from the substance of our thoughts. There is an irrefutable need to be diligent and self-disciplined as we think and learn; “feasting, seeking, searching, studying, giving heed, becoming are all verbs suggesting much more than casual acquaintance with what we study. Rather, these verbs suggest that learning is hard work” (Learning Our Theology). As a generation of young minds, let us not be fooled that “easy” will reap the results that we are looking for and aid us in an ever-changing world filled with endless obstacles. The progress we make will be matched by our efforts, the harder we work the greater the results. If we want to learn how to think straight, we need to be active in both thought and deed. It is imperative that we pursue knowledge that will feed us the vital nutrients needed to grow and rid our minds of junk
Four years of my life drained away at this place called Troy High School. After this year I will be walking away from Troy, worn and torn from the hours of anticipation for grades to be posted, the next weekend to arrive, the answer to whether that special someone will say yes to the next dance, or the unbearable wait for that painstaking bell to ring. Troy is a place of education, a very good one at that, with its Blue Ribbon Award and national recognition, you’d think I would be walking away with knowledge that will serve me well for decades to come, but no. I could have learned the same things I learned at Troy anywhere, it is the insight I picked up that will take me far. “What insight?” you ask. Its priceless wisdom really, it’s a shame too many people overlook it or take it for granted. You see there are some basic classes every Troy student takes, that in the long run prove to be very useful beyond their educational platforms. Take the Troy Tech classes, they offer more than just facts about 1s and 0s and codes of programming. Looking deeper into what is learned in these classes one can pick up the Zen like teachings. Bases, the fact that a ‘10’ can be any number, depending on its base, touches upon the idea how in the real world people seem to be the utmost characters of greatness but the more you get to know them, and their base, they can turn to be someone better or more often then not, something worse than what you first anticipated. In the course of programming we learn that there are several ways to solving a problem, just some are shorter than others and some easier to find the bugs, it depends on the commands you use. Such as how in life when using the right commands, or truths, will get you far, while some just tak...
The multiple choices students have today in college have made the university a party environment, resulting in complacent students. Mark Edmundson raises important questions and makes valid points in this essay that are worth thinking about. If people don’t take a look at our present college system and start thinking outside the box, the college education system will continue on its downward spiral of consumerism. It is fun to graduate high school and go to college to party and to have a comedic professor, but there is so much more to college then having fun. People need to realize that by challenging student, students can then start to recognize their own potential end become better for it. Learning and utilizing the information that is being taught in college is essential. “Everyone is born with their own mind, all that is left to do is break out of the stereotypical college student mold, and use
During my first few days of sophomore year at Stuyvesant High School, I saw how the ways of thinking were diverse in each of my classes. In my European Literature class, where, in our first reading assignment, we questioned the purpose of education itself. I always went with the flow in my learning, and never stopped to say to myself, “Why am I doing this to myself?”. However, once I read Live and Learn by Louis Menand, I started to think about Menand’s three theories of college and juxtapose each of them to my experience so far in high school. In the end, I concluded that many of my classes followed the main points of Theory 2, which was the theory that I mostly agreed with when I read the article for the first time.
It is inherent for man to want to understand more about himself and the universe in which he lives. Galilio Galilei stated, "I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." However, the pursuit of knowledge has not been easy, for man has endured several obstacles, whether willingly or by chance as presented in Genesis, Dante's "Inferno," and Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat." Since his creation, man has encountered obstacles in his pursuit of knowledge. For instance, in the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve are hindered by God's word to eat fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:16-17). However, being tempted by the luscious fruit and the desire to be wise, Adam and Eve willingly disobey God's word and eat the fruit, thus, surmounting their barrier toward obtaining knowledge (Genesis 3:6-7). Unfortunately, this longing for knowledge proved to be Adam and Eve's dow...
McWhorter, Kathleen. Study Skills and Crtical Thinking for College Students Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death
Both were given a workshop with skills on how to study, but one was also given lessons on what a growth mindset was and how to develop one. The group given the lessons on growth mindset was extremely fascinated by the thought that they could control how much knowledge they were capable of learning. Overall, the growth mindset group excelled while the control group continued to not do so well. After receiving these results, Dweck was so inspired that she developed a growth mindset computer program called “Brainology,” that would be available to students all around the world. Dweck concluded that it’s extremely important to teach students that it takes hard work to achieve
Even after the competitive race to get into desirable colleges has subsided, students are still finding themselves relying on the pressures of success to motivate them and push them forward. In Barbara Ehrenreich’s article “Bright-Sided”, Ehrenreich explains a mindset shared by those in the market economy that is also internalized by students in college and even workers in the workforce, “If optimism is key to material success, and if you can achieve an optimistic outlook through the discipline of positive thinking, then there is no excuse for failure” (Ehrenreich 538). Through Ehrenreich’s proposed positive thinking concept, the stress and pressures that young adults place on themselves are self-imposed and intertwined with their logic and reasoning, but those pressures are initially driven into their mindset by society. People in current society are brought up to believe that they as individuals must take responsibility for their own success; students think that if they use positive thinking, they will get exactly where they want to be, and if they fail, it is because they did not work hard enough. It is exactly this ideology that leads to students presenting “signs of depression, anxiety, and suicide ideation” (Alicia Kruisselbrink Flatt, The College
William Cronon’s article “Only Connect’: The Goals of a Liberal Education” was a fascinating read as it exemplified that what made an individual a good student was not a proficiency in certain subjects, but rather a set of ten qualities that made a good character. My top strength of intellection is certainly an asset in college, at least in terms of academic success. One of Cronon’s characteristics was that a good student respects rigor, especially in the pursuit of the truth, something that I endeavor to do anytime I am in an academic setting. Every single class I have ever signed up for has been challenging in some way, not only because it looks good to take the challenging course, but also for my own benefit. I would have gained nothing without some degree of challenge, for example, if I had not taken an extremely demanding biology course in high school, I would not have discovered how much I love biology and want to go into a biology-based career. My strength of intellection allows me not only perform well academically but it also gives the knowledge to explore my options. Because of this I will seek out the truth in order to expand upon my own knowlege and wisdom. Another one of Cronon’s values that I hope to embody is the understanding of how to get things done, something that I have related to my deliberative strength. I am the first to admit that I am a horrible procrastinator however, I also will always get my assignments done, whether it is an essay or simply doing laundry. Due to this very serious personality flaw I have essentially taught myself how to be more deliberative, I have to be deliberative otherwise I would never get anything done. I now understand that if you have a task then you are obligated to complete that task, and sometimes
The article "Brainology," by Carlos S. Dweck, examines and explains how the mindsets of students affect their inclination to learn. The challenges students face have the ability to cause a sense of fear establishing a hesitation to move forward. Some students believe that there is always room for improvements through facing knowledgeable challenges with optimism. Dweck conceives this to be a "growth-oriented" student. Growth-oriented students approach difficult tasks with the desire and willingness to learn. On the other hand, students who perceive that knowledge on a subject should come naturally with no extra effort being exerted, are distinguished as “fixed mindset” students.Fixed mindset students tend to focus on
Many students, including myself are entering college for the first time in our lives. They experience things alien to them and have to deal with an exorbitant amount of anxiety and stress. A major stressor that stands out is learning the academic way of thinking. Reading rhetorically and writing in a formal and academic manner are terms that, until now, were entirely foreign to me. At the high school level, many students are not exposed to these processes. Plain and simple, they just don’t experience this type of thinking and learning. This in turn causes an almost fight and flight response on the student’s part. Many students that struggle through these concepts give themselves the opportunity to stand or fall on their own accord, while others shut down and leave their education in the hands of chance. Students who experience this form of struggle are usually faced with the fear of asking for help.
Many people believe that college is not for everyone. They believe that knowing and learning about life cannot be gained by reading books. In the meantime, there are many people who believe that college does prepare students for the real world. They believe college offers students valuable tools that will equip them for the real world. For instance, open classrooms where students can engage in stimulating conversations prepare students for professions that pay people who can think fast and come up with creative ideas for their companies. Moreover, professors assign homework, exams, and papers to stimulate thinking and prepare students for deadlines and job assignments. However, college may prepare students for the professional world, but does it really prepare students for the real world. The purpose of this essay is...
The article “Learning: A Momentary Stay Against Confusion” by Abigail Lipson tackles the process of learning by analyzing the learning path that passes through “clarity” and “confusion”. Lipson uses examples from her personal experience, diagrams and quotations from professional sources to examine the topic and reach a conclusion on the effects of clarity and confusion in our learning experience in life. She defines clarity as the phase in which we are sure of our knowledge. As a result we feel comfortable with it and tend to choose it over confusion (11). Confusion phase, on the other hand, is when we encounter new and challenging material and we feel less confident and comfortable with ourselves (11). In the end of the article, Lipson
“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity,” Martin Luther King once said. We all have once lived in bewilderment of everything and everyone around us, never questioning why people do the things they do, we just make presumptions based on what we know and have seen. An impeccable journey was embarked once I took hold in what I would say my first real college class, in the fall of 2017. It was through my history professor I was finally able to expand my views in the world. A challenge of these beliefs instigate would eventually lead to how misguided I was, not just in academia, but with personal life.
The quest for knowledge and learning has been occuring since the creation of mankind. Ever since the serpent in the Garden of Eden tempted Eve to eat the forbidden apple from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, promising she would wise as the gods, man has been battling with this endless pursuit. Some men want wisdom so that they may be able to live a good and righteous life. Other men want only the power that knowledge can bring them, to use it for their own sinful purposes.
“Learning is the beginning of wealth. Learning is the beginning of health. Learning is the beginning of spirituality. Searching and learning is where the miracle process all begins.” – Jim Rohn