Madeline Apgar

I haven’t made a ton of progress on my draft so far, I have pretty much only made an outline of how I plan to go about organizing my essay in anticipation of my interview that I won’t be able to conduct until this afternoon. I feel like my outline has allowed me to set myself up for success in my writing because it gives me something to refer to whenever I feel like I’m stuck. I have also done quite a bit of research in which I have found testimonials from alumni of the program and information about the major and what it offers. The part that has challenged me the most about this project is being mindful that I need to make connections between the texts from Boyer and Scheuer and Bain as well as connections to myself. I would like for the organization I have so far to be reviewed as well as whether or not it seems that I have left any details or anything out in my intro. 

Discover and plan out my desired career path. This goal is a very vague and unsure goal. This is explained by the fact that I am undecided, and still trying to figure out what I want to do. Although I do not know for sure what I want to do, I do have an idea for my future. I am considering declaring Political Science with a Pre-Law track and a double minor of History and Economics. I am choosing the double minor due to the influence of Bain’s advocacy for well-rounded learning. If the law route is the route I decide to go, it will be very important for me to be thoroughly knowledgeable about all things law and government related, which I can achieve by taking the opportunity to study broadly at this liberal arts college. Like Bain’s example of Dudley Herschbach, who “[…] pursued a broad education, dipping into a variety of disciplines, yet ultimately concentrated deeply on the world of chemical science” (Bain 217), I want to be broadly knowledgeable about the world around me so I am better able to apply it in my future in law. 

Develop time management strategies and better studying habits. (Growth mindset- Dweck). I don’t always have the best habits or ideas when it comes to managing time and prioritizing. Rather than getting stuck in the same rut of procrastination repeatedly, I can practice using Carol Dweck’s growth mindset concept to develop new strategies and try new things to see what works for me and what actually leads to improvement. In Christine Gross-Loh’s interview with Dweck shares the key to growth in learning, “‘not just effort, but strategy … so support the student in finding another strategy. Effective teachers who actually have classrooms full of children with a growth mindset are always supporting children’s learning strategies and showing how strategies created that success’” (Gross-Loh). If I apply this to my future learning, I will be able to more easily adapt to challenges and overcome them with success.

GOAL DIMENSIONS	Near Term Goals (Fall ‘21 & 2021-22)	Longer Term Goals (2022-2025+)
PERSONAL	Discover and plan out my desired career path. Stay physically fit.  Consistently practice my instruments. Develop healthy habits.	Discover the long-term setting I want for my life. Form a small, close friend group that will stay close post-graduation.
EXTRACURRICULAR	Excel in tennis.  Get a job and learn to balance these extracurriculars.	Become a tennis club officer Become a part of the Honors Program
ACADEMIC	Choose a major.  Develop time management strategies and better studying habits. (Growth mindset- Dweck) Foresee the longevity of my college education.	Graduate with honors. Become more involved in student opportunities to excel in my academic career.  Make a post-grad plan.

In this annotation, I made many remarks revealing my understanding of the text. In one particular note, I challenged the liberal arts argument made by both Scheuer and Ungar. They both frequently seemed to be asking the question of why one wouldn’t want a liberal arts educating considering all of the options it can provide someone rather than a STEM education or other type of career education. They don’t recognize that many people are understandably unwilling to put themselves under significant financial stress to “broaden their understanding” of academic subjects in the world around them. They both try to argue that the quality of the education is worth it and don’t even try to rebut the truth of the matter- that a liberal arts education is an enormous financial commitment that some of the more unfortunate people in our communities simply can’t afford.

In these annotations, I conveyed my understanding of Bain’s explanations and make a Nature vs. Nurture connection to one of his explanations, which was ironically representative of critical thinking in my reading.

On this page, I showed my understanding of Bain’s examples of how knowledge of historical concepts can help contextualize other elements of learning by making commentary of the relationships that came to my mind. For one instance, when Bain used the example of nations with a history of violence, I used the example of Israel and Pakistan.

In this section, I showed understanding of Dean Baker’s ability to recall, apply and think critically about situations due to his broad but specialized liberal arts education.

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Identify one or two passages (quotes) that resonate in some way and draw text-to-self, text-to-world, or text-to-text connections.

The University of New England’s Core Value Statement, “through the Core Curriculum, students will develop foundational knowledge and critical thinking skills that are necessary for understanding and assuming their roles in natural, social, humanistic, and other environments” (CAS 3) sounds very similar, almost identical even, to the definition of a liberal arts education provided by the Professor in the narrative at the beginning of Bain’s excerpt, “students explored a host of disciplines from the sciences to the humanities, taking a deep approach to important issues that those disciplines could help them address” (Bain 200). Bain describes a liberal education’s heavy emphasis on the breadth and freedom of a student’s learning opportunities and the well-rounded and informed individual mindsets that are the result, which is also heavily emphasized in the Core Handbook. 

In Bain’s section about creative intelligence in the liberal arts, he conveys the importance of exploratory learning, and how the more we know in all aspects of life- whether it is cultural, societal or simply educational knowledge- the more we can get out of everyday experiences as well as other learning experiences, “a liberal arts education afforded them the chance to enjoy a richer life because they could get more out of every moment and every experience” . We also see this in Scheuers three-fold definition of citizenship: traditional civic citizenship, economic citizenship and cultural citizenship. They all revolve around our contributions to our society and the world around us, and a liberal education is intended to make those contributions more informed, reasoned and meaningful. Scheuer states that “the overall goal is to foster vibrant and prosperous communities with broad and deep participation, in public conversations marked by fairness, inclusion, and (where critical thinking comes in) intellectual rigor” (Scheuer 4).

Bain’s third section talks about engagement with history and justice through a narrative of Dean Baker. As a result of the curiosity-motivated and exploratory liberal education Baker enriched his mind with, he was able to evaluate a court case with his recollection of his historical learning and application of the event’s impact, “every childhood mental model they had constructed about U.S. Foreign Policy came into question, rocking their most cherished beliefs and raising new curiosities about how the international system really worked” (Scheuer 207). The thorough, deep and broad learning provisions that Baker had allowed him the ability to recall a similar historical event and evaluate it under the premise of “history repeating itself” and make a sound, educated application of the case as a result.

Bain’s fourth section “The Freedom to Choose” narrates the liberal arts education experience of Emma Murphy. In reading this section, I was able to make a connection with the societal pressures of Murphy’s upbringing, “her parents wanted their three daughters to do well in school academically, and her society took pride in the students who won admission to the most prestigious private colleges. […]. In class she faced subtle pressures to make the grade. […] ‘[…], I developed anorexia and had to enter a treatment center for a month,’” (Scheuer 213), and with the concept of the Nature vs. Nurture which we have been discussing in my Psychology class. While Murphy’s genetic inheritance may have predisposed her academic intelligence and ballet abilities, the nurturing- or in this case, lack of nurturing- of her environment caused these abilities to become forced rather than flourish with the freedom of the liberal arts. The fact that I was able to make a connection with this reading and my discussions in Psychology is an example of how critical thinking in a libral arts education can open your mind. 

Bain’s final section, “Selecting a Path”, discusses the educational and post-educational career of Dudley Herschbach and his tendencies to constantly think critically. It also makes note of the fact that, while Dudley’s learning was so broad and exploratory, he was also able to hone in on a major of science and math. This can be used to make a connection to the Core Handbook. The Core Handbook works under the assumption that the student has a major and offers guidance for the curriculum requirements that extend beyond the requirements of their major and direction, mandatorily expanding their learning. Dudley Herschbach cherished these opportunities to venture outside of the path to his degree and used what he learned to make applications to his focus and excel superiorly in his learning, “he learned to hop easily from one perspective to another, to make connections that few had imagined, and to ask questions that no one had framed before” (Bain 217).

Describe at least three possible relationships and make sure you’re putting at least two of the readings into a relationship at a time. 

1. Out of all of the pieces we’ve read, Ungar and Scheuer are the argumentative ones. In class, it was even said that they seemed to be “bashing” the concept of a “career education”, and were promoting a liberal arts education. While I think this may have been true for Ungar, due to his perception-fabricating and defensive diction in his argument, I think that Scheuer made his argument in a more convincing, matter-of-fact, kind of way. His piece was much more focused on advocating for the liberal arts rather than arguing against a career-based education, “the STEM disciplines are obviously important to economic productivity, but so is the entire rainbow of human knowledge and the ability to think critically” (Scheuer 7). Ungar uses phrases like “in my experience” and “it is condescending to imply” (Ungar 3) in reference to misperceptions that he wrote from the perspective of the people in opposition to the liberal arts. This makes his writing feel ignorant and unsupported, causing his argument to be ineffective. The comparison of these two persuasive pieces provides examples of effective and ineffective techniques that can be applied to this kind of writing.
2. Bain concluded the excerpt from his book by summarizing the traits that the subjects he interviewed had and applied to their learning, to emphasize that when a person allows themself to collaborate with the freedoms of a liberal arts education, they can go to some incredible places, “ they understood growth as a developmental process in which they sought to grow the power of their minds, and that too influenced the kind of learning they attempted. […], they ultimately chose a stage upon which to play out their lives and careers” (Bain 220). Some of these statements sound familiar to the teachings of another liberal arts advocate we observed, Carol Dweck. Dweck emphasized that not all learning is the same, and that praising growth rather than success influences the developmental process in students. Clearly all of Bain’s subjects were examples of individuals with a growth mindset based on their perspectives on learning, their focuses and the outcome of their progress. But these mindsets were not always trusting of the process. In Bain’s biographical approach to narrating his subjects’ careers, he didn’t shy away from their hardships. Dean Baker lacked the incentive to try his Freshmen year and didn’t perform well, Emma Murphy was pressured by her society to reach certain expectations of success which led to an eating disorder and hospitalization, and Dudley Herschbach faced poverty in his early life and lost the only literature he had available to him to study with in a house fire. The hurdles these individuals faced taught them to look in other places for a way to begin truly growing, Baker started his summers seminars with his brother in areas of his interest, Murphy’s hospitalization influenced her development critical thinking through her new values and purpose in her life on top of an academic drive that was instilled in her from a young age, and Dudley had to find a new source of literature to “decode” which led him to the great influence of his local librarian. Emma Murphy is likely the most extreme example of how Dweck’s idea of a fixed mindset can negatively affect the learning process. Murphy was raised under high pressures, influencing her to constantly be trying her hardest and succeed on the surface, without influencing her to delve into her learning and get out of it everything there is to get. This unstable mental process ended up affecting her externally which led her to her ultimate realizations of true success, which she would reach gradually.
3. The University of New England’s curriculum requirement for exploration found in the Core Handbook follows the common theme of the meaning of liberal arts embedded in the writings of Ungar, Scheuer and Bain. The Core states that Exploration courses are courses “which encourage active learning, students acquire knowledge, develop skillful thinking, expand their expressive capabilities, and connect this learning to their broader experience” (CAS 8). This definition of UNE’s unique curriculum requirement falls into place with many of the liberal arts values that are included in Scheuer’s, Ungar’s and Bain’s pieces. Ungar states that “the liberal arts encompass the broadest possible range of disciplines in the natural sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences” (Ungar 3), showing how an eclectic array of courses is part of a liberal education. Scheuer comes to the conclusion that “the liberal arts form such an evolving system, consisting of stable but impermanent fields of inquiry that fuse at some points and fissure at others, adapting to cultural shifts while sharing a common language and assumptions, overlapping knowledge bases, and the core of critical thinking” (Scheuer 3), conveying the well-roundedness of the learning experience provided by a liberal arts curriculum. Bain uses many examples and concluded that, “their broad education helped them to make those choices as they learned to see connections between liberal education and the specialty they would pursue” (Bain 202), showing the importance of drawing connections between all the various subjects we study and explore.

What are the Liberal Arts?

The first section in Scheuer’s article “Critical Thinking and the Liberal Arts” attempts to define and explain the liberal arts to the audience. Within this explanation, there is an underlying tone of advocacy for the liberal arts as Scheuer’s article is a defense against those in opposition to the studies. He starts by explaining some of the history and origins of the arts, alluding to dated Latin writers and Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy. He also goes into the origins of the term itself, the meaning coming “from the notion of freeing the mind” (Scheuer 2), and goes on to state what the arts consist of, “grammar, rhetoric, and logic, combined with the medieval quadrivium of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. As early as the twelfth-century renaissance, […], those “arts” were supplemented in the curriculum by philosophy, jurisprudence, theology, and medicine” (Scheuer 2). These anciently important and inclusive studies are also found in the Core Handbook under requirements like Core Explorations and Creative Arts. These focuses of study also convey the idea that the liberal arts is intended to educate and form well-rounded citizens and society members. Scheuer states three main liberal arts conceptions in this section: an integrated curriculum, exclusion of the sciences, and a main focus of the humanities. Connecting to his earlier references to ancient philosophy and how it contributed to the formation of the liberal arts, Scheuer states that “philosophy is the mother of liberal learning”. Basic knowledge, theories and ways of thinking have changed drastically over time, especially since the time of Greek and Roman philosophy. Scheuer concludes this section by elaborating on the notion that the liberal arts is a system that is intended to free, grow, expand and evolve, along with the young people who study it.  

Why Do We Need the Liberal Arts?

In the second section of Scheuer’s article, he introduces the key concepts and ideas of his article: critical inquiry and citizenship.  He first defines citizenship as “a social ecology involving a range of activities symbiotic with democratic communities” (Scheuer 2). He describes this ecology as consisting of three dimensions: economic citizenship, which simply involves making productive contributions to the economy whether through doing something like running a factory or being a critical consumer; traditional civic citizenship, which encompasses any form of participation in the public sphere (ex. voting); lastly there is the cultural citizenship, which can be defined as the easiest with its requirement that one immerses themselves into many different areas of culture in the community and in cultures around the world. Scheuer talks about how these dimensions interrelate “to foster vibrant and prosperous communities with broad and deep participation, in public conversations, marked by fairness, inclusion and intellectual rigor” (Scheuer 3). He concludes this section by acknowledging the fact that society needs people who are career educated for positions like being a pilot, but how society also needs liberal arts scholars for other professions, “we need pilots, farmers and hairdressers as well as managers, artists, doctors, and engineers. But we all need to be well-informed, critical citizens” (Scheuer 4). While some peers find this statement, as well as Scheuer’s argument to be aggressive and condescending against those in favor of a career-based education, I find it to simply advocate for the importance of studying the liberal arts, in the defensive and firmly-worded way that any persuasive piece should be written.   

What is Critical Thinking?

In this section, Scheuer immediately defines critical thinking as “the set of mental practices that lends breadth, depth, clarity, and consistency to public discourse” (Scheuer 4). Critical thinking is an important skill to have when studying the liberal arts as it involves looking at the concepts and ideas being studied from multiple angles and perspectives, and those other perspectives are taught and found in the other areas of study included in a liberal arts education. Some critical thinking skills that Scheuer takes note of are identifying assumptions, drawing inferences, distinguishing facts from opinions, drawing conclusions, making sound arguments and recognizing our own human tendencies to make biases and misperceptions. The most distinguishing characteristic of critical thinking in contrast to any other types of thinking, is that it emphasizes the importance of looking at a topic from all sides and angles that would affect our understanding of the topic. Scheuer then acknowledges the truth of the matter that not everything is an opinion, or needs to be seen from multiple viewpoints to construct a decent understanding, “We still have to conjugate verbs, understand economic cycles, and listen to stories” (Scheuer 6). Scheuer concludes this section by stating that all of the critical thinking skills and benefits are the direct result of a liberal education, driving forth his strong position of advocacy for the arts. 

The Importance of Critical Inquiry.

In the last section of Scheuers essay, he begins by stating the concepts that critical inquiry commonly calls into question, “[…] truth, nature, value, causality, complexity, morality, freedom, excellence, and […] language itself, as the principal medium of thought” (Scheuer 6). Scheuer goes on to say that these concepts are spread out through all branches of knowledge and applying them to our learning will ultimately broaden our understanding and intelligence of any topic. He also describes these concepts as being open and available for making connections to more concepts and ideas. Scheuer concludes with recognition of the importance of STEM disciplines, but ultimately advocates for the critical thinking, inquiry and citizenship that he argues are important and a direct result of a liberal arts education. One of my favorite connections that Scheuer discusses is how multi-faceted every academic topic can be, particularly when he explains that linguistic, or language, problems are simultaneously philosophical understanding problems, “they are problems about meaning, knowledge, reality, and our minds, not just about words” (Scheuer 6). This connection emphasizes how studying and developing and understanding of a variety of subjects can help you recognize factors of other topics and better conceptualize them. 

Write 4-5 sentences drawing a connection/relationship between something specific in Scheuer and something specific in both the Core Handbook and Ungar.

The four Core Themes of an undergraduate education at the University of New England in the Core Handbook are Environmental Awareness, Social and Global Awareness, Critical Thinking: Human Responses to Problems and Challenges, and Civic Engagement. The importance these focuses have in a liberal arts education are frequently being conveyed in both Ungar and Scheuer’s pieces. First, Ungar discusses the importance of the benefits of liberal learning in his argument against a “career education”, stating that “[…] the ‘career education’ bandwagon seems to suggest that shortcuts are available to students that lead directly to high-paying jobs— leaving out “frills” like learning how to write and speak well, how to understand the nuances of literary texts and scientific concepts, how to collaborate with others on research” (Ungar 2). Ungar recognized the importance of how a multi-faceted conceptual awareness of multiple topics and areas of study develop an awareness and higher level of thinking in any student. Scheuer’s commentary on the liberal arts was much deeper and clearly more thoroughly understood. He systematically explained the significant role that Core Values like critical thinking and civic engagement play in a liberal arts education. In the end, he also describes how these values can influence each other, “[Critical thinking skills] heightens our abilities to speak, listen, write, and think, making us better learners, communicators, team members, and citizens” (Scheuer 6). As the Core Handbook is the layout for our liberal undergraduate education, it is inclusive of all the qualities that education experts like Scheuer and Ungar advocate for so passionately. 

1. The GUST First Year Seminar course is kind of it’s own thing in the Core Handbook, it doesn’t fall under a single category as much as it encompasses all of them. The final three sections of the Core Handbook simply explain how the Handbook came to be what it is, how those decisions are made, how changes are proposed and made and who is responsible for making those changes. The GUST program is specific to a select type of students who don’t feel that they have the ability to form a solid learning plan for there four years to an undergraduate degree, and therefore, the Core Requirements will not interfere with their goals which means that the last three sections of the Core Handbook are somewhat irrelevant to them. Intro to Singing is the type of course I could have put off until the last semester of my undergraduate. By then I will no doubt have a major I am working towards and I likely won’t feel very compelled to worry about a creative art elective and would maybe even, in an extreme situation, want to petition the requirement to be put in a more major related course like it discusses in Section VIII B of the Core Handbook. English 110 was also a required course that I was registered for at the beginning of the school year, but I had taken a College Composition Dual Enrollment course in high school. With this course under my belt, I was able to get my transcripts sent to the registrar’s office, who were able to determine whether or not my course would suffice for English 110, likely using a checklist similar to the one in Section VIII C of the Handbook.

3. I think that Ungar’s article will debunk some common beliefs that people have about the Liberal Arts that he thinks are wrong. He will likely use statistical and ethological evidence to prove and persuade his opinion. He will also probably share good, convincing facts about the liberal arts that will portray the liberal arts in a positive light as an attempt to persuade the reader to agree with his position. I think the “liberal arts” are all courses of study that teach specific concepts with a broad understanding of many different academic concepts, so as not to strictly stick to a narrow-minded course of learning. These arts may be intended to create a sense of liberty or freedom in one’s learning so that the student has opportunities to study and make connections in a multifaceted learning environment. 

5. Ungar suggests that there is a common misperception understood by many people that “a liberal arts degree is a luxury that most families can no longer afford. ‘Career education’ is what we now must focus on” (Ungar 1). In his rebuttal, he admits the truth of the financial hardship that the cost of a liberal education is guaranteed to bring the average family, and he simply promotes it as being “[…] a better investment than ever– that the future demands of citizenship will require not narrow technical or job-focused training, but rather a subtle understanding of the complex influences that shape the world we live in” (Ungar 1). This argument is weak because Ungar did not choose a “misperception” he could prove wrong. The misperception claimed that families can no longer afford tuition for a liberal arts education, and Ungar did not even attempt to prove that wrong, but simply argued that the quality of the education would be worth the economic instability. If there was a misperception that claimed that the education that would be provided wouldn’t be worth it, then his argument might have worked. 

Next, Ungar challenges the “misperception” that “college graduates are finding it harder to get good jobs with liberal arts degrees” (Ungar 2). Ungar used statistical evidence to make a persuasive rebuttal that most modern day employers are looking for candidates with an intellectual emphasis on skills that a liberal education provides such as “‘critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills’” (Ungar 2). However, I would argue a candidate that has had a career-based education, and wouldn’t require a lot of training, would provide more incentive for the employer to hire them. Ungar’s argument behind a liberal education so far is simply advocating for students becoming well-rounded people rather than the alternative of a career educated student. This argument assumes that students taking on a career education cannot become as well-rounded of a person and I think that Ungar should have used statistical evidence in the favor of that argument to make his argument stronger. 

The next perception that Ungar attempted to rebut was that “the liberal arts are particularly irrelevant for low-income and first-generation college students. They, more than their more-affluent peers, must focus on something practical and marketable”. I don’t know where Ungar found or heard these misperceptions, but I simply don’t believe that these are commonly believed. Ungar starts off his rebuttal with a weak, ethological approach, stating that “it is condescending to imply that those who have less cannot understand and appreciate the finer elements of knowledge” (Ungar 3). First, I find it ironic that Ungar seemed to misinterpret the misperception that he wrote, I don’t find any condescending implications in that perception, it simply seems as though people believe it is in a financially unstable person’s interest to take on an education that is more cost efficient and guaranteed to provide them an income in the long run. The only other evidence that Ungar uses here is a personal experience– which is biased and irrelevant to the whole– and an allusion to how Obama overcame his economic hardship even with a liberal education. 

Lastly, I chose the fifth misperception on Ungar’s list to discuss, “it’s the liberal Democrats who got this country into trouble in recent years, so it’s ridiculous to continue indoctrinating our young people with a liberal education” (Ungar 4). This “misperception” is simply a misunderstanding of the meaning of a single word- liberal- if anything. If people in Ungar’s intended audience, who we can assume to be people who market college to younger generations, are understanding this word with a political connotation, then that is a bigger problem. Ungar seemed to simply use including this misperception as an opportunity to explain what a liberal education is and provides, which he could have done in his introduction, “it promotes the idea of listening to all points of view and not relying on a single ideology, and examining all approaches to solving a problem rather than assuming that one technique or perspective has all the answers” (Ungar 4). 

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1. I am currently taking the courses, GUST FSY 110, Intro to Environmental Issues, Intro to Psychology, Statistics 120 and Intro to Singing. The first year seminar is its own program and is important to the core because it is intended to help declare a major which is important to do sooner rather than later in one’s college career. Intro to Environmental Issues is a Core first year requirement and falls under the Environmental Awareness theme. In this course I will consider how I personally am affecting the environment and, by the end, be able to demonstrate how I can act responsibly and ethically in relation to our Earth’s environment. I plan to participate in class discussions about these important issues and study well enough to be able to independently understand and explain these fundamental concepts in a live, classroom setting. Intro to Psychology would fall under the social science explorations requirement in the Core. Similarly to Environmental Issues, I can observe how I am involved in psychology, or how psychology is involved in me. However, Environmental Issues is more related to sociology rather than psychology because it observes how all people affect the environment as a collective group rather than how the mentally processes of a single person have an effect on the environment. In this course, I will learn a great deal of important terminology and concepts that will help me to acquire knowledge and develop skillful thinking on the topic. I will be able to employ new techniques to communicate the success in my learning by the end of the semester. Plan to prepare for this course by making in depth and elaborate note cards that help me to cement my understanding of new psychological concepts. Statistics 120 falls under the “one mathematics course” requirement and will help me learn to apply, interpret and consider mathematics so that I can develop a conceptual understanding of statistics which will enable me to draw conclusions based on my understanding. MUS 104 A or Intro to Singing, falls under the “One Creative Arts Experience Course” requirement for my four years here at UNE. I chose this class for this semester because I needed one more course and I love to sing and, additionally it gets this requirement out of the way for the coming seven semesters.

4. I have noticed that Intro to Psychology and Statistics both share many of the same mathematical and scientific concepts. For one thing, statistics in general are used commonly in the study of psychology to provide statistical evidence for psychological theories. One shared concept that stuck out to me was “correlation does not equal causation”. We learned this in Statistics class as a warning about how to effectively and correctly interpret data and then we learned it again in Psychology about how we should look at subjects’ responses to polls from a correlational perspective rather than a causal one. Psychology also relates to many other well known scientific concepts like independent and dependent variables and the biology of the brain. This shows how Exploration courses like Psychology introduce a science discipline and introduce widely used terminology that will further your understanding and knowledge of certain academic studies.

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1. In Gross-Loh’s interview with Dweck, “How Praise Became a Consolation Prize”, Dweck describes the misunderstands of her terms (fixed and growth mindsets) as the false growth mindset; “false growth mindset is saying you have growth mindset when you don’t really have it or you don’t really understand [what it is]. It’s also false in the sense that nobody has a growth mindset in everything all the time” (The Atlantic). This definition of a false growth mindset brings the common misconceptions about the growth mindset to light. First, many people simply believe that a person has either an entirely growth mindset or an entirely fixed mindset when really it depends on the person and the specific places in their life where they struggle with growth. Something in your learning that especially bothers you or is far outside of your comfort zone can trigger you out of a growth mindset back into a fixed one. I also think that many people these days are used to and dependent on instant gratification and growth obviously occurs over time. People’s frustration with not growing as quickly as they would like can frustrate and discourage them into a fixed mindset on the issue. 
2. Dweck discussed how some people have “fixed mindset triggers”, or things that challenge them in a way that triggers them into a fixed mindset. I think that my fixed mindset triggers are any little failures I have. For example, I love to sing and play instruments like the piano and ukulele and lately I have been trying to improve my skills. I often see this hobby as my one talent and I don’t believe I am naturally gifted at anything more. Due to this mindset, anytime I fail to hit a note or miss a hammer-on or pull-off I let it discourage me to the point of stopping practicing, “when they hit obstacles, setbacks, or criticism, this was just more proof that they didn’t have the abilities that they cherished” (The Atlantic). I allow my fear of failure to become an inevitable failure. To keep my growth mindset with my music, I need to value the importance and benefits of consistent practice and remember patience.
3. Later in the interview, Dweck elaborates on the false growth mindset and how many people misunderstand it as being simply about effort. However, the growth mindset is about more than just effort, it is about learning how to grow through strategizing, problem solving and determination in addition to effort, “students need to know that if they’re stuck, they don’t need just effort. You don’t want them redoubling their efforts with the same ineffective strategies. You want them to know when to ask for help and when to use resources that are available” (The Atlantic). In many cases these days, educators praise effort because they don’t want the student to stop trying, however Dweck tells us that we should not praise effort that does not result in success, and I agree. Effort without success is essentially meaningless. Instead we should focus on “process praise”, “focus on the learning process and show how hard work, good strategies, and good use of resources lead to better learning” (The Atlantic). I think that praising strategies that are not leading to success can be nothing be harmful to a student.
4. A way I would like to contribute to my community in the future would be to coach middle school or high school tennis. I always greatly valued and appreciated the coaching and encouragement I have received over the years to help me succeed in this sport and I would love to pay that forward by doing the same for young aspiring tennis players. I know the impact a sport can have on your life and how it can shape your future, whether it brings you lifelong relationships or simply a lifelong love for the sport. Coaches have the power to influence this impact and I would love to be a part of that.

1. Carol Dweck’s TED Talk focuses on the idea that students need to be taught that they are on a learning curve and knowledge and understanding come with continuous dedication of time and effort. Dweck discusses how her research showed that students being told “not yet” rather than “you’ve failed” after underperforming, was better for the students’ mindset about their progress in the long run. Dweck has come to the conclusion that there are two main mindsets that a child can have about their learning, and that is either a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. A fixed mindset is basically the mentality that your abilities are predetermined at birth and the amount of effort you put forth will not allow you to surpass those set levels of abilities. Dweck describes students with a fixed mindset as feeling as though they are “gripped in the tyranny of now” (Dweck 0:35) or, in other words, that the immediate demand for their success felt unescapable, cruel and unreasonable. A growth mindset disregards this feeling. This mindset is the “understanding that you are on a learning curve” (Dweck 0:07) and the personal knowledge that, with enough persistence and consistent effort, you can develop and improve your own abilities. 
2. After talking about what the concept of “yet” can do for the young students in our society, Dweck moves on to discuss what we as people, and especially educators can do to build a “bridge to yet”. The first thing she suggests is for us to “praise wisely” (Dweck 6:04), which she elaborates to define as not praising intelligence or talent, “but praising the process that kids engage in. Their effort, their strategies, their focus, their perseverance, their improvement” (Dweck 5:58). Dweck claims that the product of this praise is kids who are hardy and resilient, as they have learned how substantial effort and innovation can do substantial things for their progress. While I agree that celebrating these increased efforts is important and can help to change mindsets in children, I believe that intelligence and talent are still things that should be praised, recognized and admired. Dweck seems to have a goal of equality in the classroom and, while noble, I believe it unintentionally demonizes the concept of some people simply being extraordinary. I think that it is okay to praise any student for working hard, regardless of whether they are ordinary or extraordinary. Another way that Dweck suggests to help stimulate growth mindsets is by rewarding “yet”. This idea suggests that we should be rewarding students for “effort, strategy and progress” (Dweck) rather than immediate success. According to Dweck, this tactic produces “more effort, more strategies, more engagement over long periods of time, and more perseverance when they hit really, really hard problems” (Dweck 5:12). Overall, I agree with the notion that teaching kids “yet” rather than “now” will give them much greater confidence in their learning capabilities. 
3.  When most people think of intelligence, they think of it as the natural mental grasp of complex concepts and ideas that not many people have. Dweck involves intelligence in the discussion as though it is something that we as people develop and create for ourselves. By definition, intelligence is “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills” (Oxford Dictionary). It is clear that Dweck’s definition is the more accurate one. However, Dweck finds that it is not enough to simply know that you can develop your intelligence, there must be incentive, “we realized that some kids would be overjoyed to hear you can develop your intellectual abilities, but others might not think it was the most exciting thing” (Dweck). This conveys the importance of teaching students what their intelligence can do for them personally, as well as teaching them that they can be intelligent. Giving people the power and confidence to know how to develop their own intelligence and grow in their abilities is what Dweck believes will create a nation of strong leaders.
4. My freshman year of high school I was put into a regular track Algebra 1 class. While it was important that I take this class because it was informative and necessary for me in order to develop my knowledge and understanding of mathematics, the pace was slow and the students around me were unmotivated. I wanted to improve. I retaliated by registering for both Honors Geometry and Honors Algebra 2 for my sophomore year. I told myself that with enough hard work I could succeed with this challenge, however my mindset was still fixed. In the first semester of those classes, I completed all of my work although I didn’t understand it and my lack of understanding only embarrassed and frustrated me. It got to the point where my grades were dropping, and nothing but a good test grade could bring them up, so I had no choice but to seek out help from my teacher. Time after time, I would meet with my teacher and she would explain concepts to me, which I would slowly begin to understand. It was slow, but consistent, progress- necessary for growth. I relished in this feeling of understanding and continued to meet with her until I could succeed independent of her. I still remember when she told me the grade I got on my final with a big smile on her face, and my confidence was over the moon. This taught me the difference between simply working hard and working hard with a desire to learn and grow.