Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

People’s experiences shape their lives and influence the choices they make, their expectations, and formulate their behavior and mindset. I have always loved to learn! As a child, I was constantly at the library and playing school. I recall being in 5th grade when my teacher handed me the science manual and a box of equipment, and asked me to ‘figure it out’ and recreate it for the class. I couldn’t have been more thrilled!

I believe that one should constantly learn and seek new skills and information since it enhances one’s understanding of the world, provide opportunities, and develop skills. Committed to learning, I am willing to spend the necessary time to cultivate my mind in the quest for knowledge and I achieved this through diligence, perseverance, discipline, and by providing the best work possible in the workplace around me. This ambition to push for excellence would be a beneficial trait to have in the future, for I still strive to put quality into everything I do, even when I do not receive any recognition or praise, and this attitude would help me make rapid strides not only in my academic career but my life overall.

She recalls the struggles, the fun, her failures and even her success in the end (Harding, 2011). The personal story shows the real road it takes with decisions we make “when entering college, Harding wrote that she began college because she felt it was expected of her”(Harding, 2011). College students often make choices based on what they perceive as pressure to do so by others like councilors, parents and even society. They enter college thinking this is what my plan should look like and not making choices that are the best for them. Harding said that in the end “ we all become graduates of one of the finest universities in the world- and already, nobody much cared how we got there”(Harding,2011). To me this shows that even if you pass by the skin of your teeth, you can still fail in the end. A diploma is not the end result that maters the most. Students need to choose colleges that appeal to their needs and goals and not just go to get a diploma. If students spend no time studying weather boarded or not liking their studies, then what difference does the diploma make in the end. Students would just have a degree that often goes unused in life but the costs is ever mounting to these students. The financial cost, the cost of failure, loss of energy and time, causes many students to never finish their education or even to avoid going in the

A student who succeeds is one who encompasses the bravery and courage to start anew. Even knowing that, I was a student who feared every little action I took in high school because of the consequences I was afraid to face afterwards. The uneasiness of carrying out plans alone shaped my character into an indecisive clutter about everything inside my mind. But even with that hindrance, I tackled one of the hardest choices I had to make: choosing Case Western Reserve University over University of Georgia.

In On Habit, Alain de Botton writes about how people become habituated and believe there is nothing left to see or learn about the certain location they are in. In this essay, Botton discovers an attitude to approach places we think we already know, and no longer find interest in. This mindset is intended for the environment you are in, but can also be apply to styles of reading and writing.

The second habit, Begin with the End In Mind, is about thinking things through. Not going right into situation without thinking about what might happen as a result. In the

Gradually, this expectation became a looming thought in my mind; What would I be getting out of my education, if expectations were low, and pushing the boundaries of these expectations in place was ground I had already covered? I craved more intense challenges, intellectually and creatively— creativity corresponding with my chosen field of study. The school itself isn’t inadequate in offering these challenges, but as someone who came from a beginning of competition, I felt out of place, and that I had more potential to discover and to explore. Following suit, I realized I simply needed a place that would have me use that potential, and then to go beyond that. I never wanted an easy degree; I have the ambition to struggle and to be pushed forward in new directions to find the best of myself, especially in the career field I

My main engineering courses at the time were underway and being focused on them was a must but, with the passing of a relative of whom I looked up to so greatly was still heavy on my mind, my studies then suffered in the process. In the event of such a close relative passing it became a distraction from my classes of which I then could not overcome therefore my grades had begun to suffer. Over the course of the next couple of years that preceded my graduation in 2013, I encountered many minor roadblocks and obstacles that I continually learned and built upon to become the person I am today. There were many lessons I learned from the “ups” and “downs” of my undergraduate career with the main one being, if you stay fixated on the goal you set out to achieve, you will eventually achieve it. My undergraduate degree became a humbling

Because of this expectation, like Gatsby, we anticipate so much that if the next step isn’t the scenario we created in our head, we become disappointed. The beginning of my junior year, I experienced this concept of expectation being the cause of my disappointment when I was taken out of AP Psychology in order to take a physical education class. I had planned out my four years in high school, which included that once I completed the two required years of PE, I would replace that free period with an AP course. This was essential to my dream life beyond graduation in order to meet the requirements of my top colleges. The first month of my junior year was going smoothly, until I received a call slip to the office where I was told that the councilors had made a mistake on my schedule and that I would have to drop a class immediately in order to meet the California State Law requirements. I had an outlook for how the rest of my high school career would go, but was met with adversity when I was thrown an obstacle I wasn’t prepared for. Like Gatsby, I had this set ideal situation in my head and when that expectation wasn’t met, we experienced

Around the time of 9th grade, I pondered an age-old question: what is the point in learning this if we are never going to use it in real life? I had thought of this before, but had never gone as in-depth as I did this time. What prompted me to think more deeply about this was because someone in my class asked the question, and being the helpful student I wanted to help them. I tried to see myself in college, taking on the attitude of someone who only took classes that pertained to, what they thought at the time, their major. I realized this type of student, if not content with his choice of major in college, will struggle to stay afloat and grab ahold of the floating planks of unrecognizable majors and lost opportunities. Thus, ultimately drowning in their could-be dream jobs. I realized that majors are just titles, and without having taken classes in it previously, will be unable to distinguish it from the rest and will have a hard time choosing a major. Realizing this course is of bad undertaking, I tried to see myself in college with the attitude of someone who had broadened their horizons and came prepared with fall-back majors. This person was quickly able to locate their 3 fall-back majors, or savior planks, due to them being recognizable because of previous classes. This student, now with the hard part out of the way, will now be able to sail to calmer seas and continue their journey known as college.

The last few years in high school, I told myself I was going to pursue a major that will benefit me no matter the career path I took in life. I was determined to be different from my older siblings. I composed letters, essays, and papers dedicated to the future me and in every one of them, I envisioned the perfect four years of life in college and the start of my success. However, as the first year in college flew by, I no longer had the confidence I once did and the word success found its’ way out of my life. I took courses I that did not interest me, in hopes to find my passion. Then, finally I found myself again within the halls of the business department. I quickly grasped onto the opportunity and walked through

American politician and political theorist, John C. Calhoun once quoted, “In looking back I see nothing to regret and little to correct.”. In life, when we look back there are some instances about whom, when we think of, wish to rewind our life and correct them. In college life, there is a point in one’s life when one unknowingly makes some wrong decisions, which in turn impact his or her career in long run. One such experience, which compels me to rethink about my college experience and would like to correct if given an opportunity, was my procuring lower grades due to my laziness and a laid back attitude.

A range of different and useful topics have been discussed since the start of Pathways to lifelong learning, some of which I found to be of particular help. The college expectations which we learned towards the beginning of the course was especially helpful to learning how to become a critical thinker, something that was not very touched upon throughout my time in high school. I now use Bloom’s Taxonomy when beginning to prepare for an important paper or presentation. In addition to the first chapter, I had also found great help in the second chapter on the skills needed to succeed in school. In the past, I used rehearsal as my main strategy to memorize for any upcoming tests or exams, however that often resulted in either retrieval failure or ineffective encoding. I now use chunking and elaboration as my main strategies to studying as I find it most effective when studying and retrieving information, especially when I am needing to memorize and learn a big amount of material.

A range of different and useful topics have been discussed since the start of Pathways to lifelong learning, some of which I found to be of particular help. The college expectations which we learned towards the beginning of the course was especially helpful to learning how to become a critical thinker, something that was not very touched upon throughout my time in high school. I now use Bloom’s Taxonomy when beginning to prepare for an important paper or presentation. In addition to the first chapter, I had also found great help in the second chapter on the skills needed to succeed in school. In the past, I used rehearsal as my main strategy to memorize for any upcoming tests or exams, however that often resulted in either retrieval failure or ineffective encoding. I now use chunking and elaboration as my main strategies to studying as I find it most effective when studying and retrieving information, especially when I am needing to memorize and learn a big amount of material.

lIn “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” Stephen Covey helps people become more effective when dealing with the significant challenges of life. In details, Stephen Covey provides guidelines for managing time and balancing studies, social life, job, and other priorities. The first three habits are focused on personal victories. They teach how to develop self-mastery and dependence. Those three habits are: Be Proactive, Begin with the End in Mind, and Put First Things First. Habits four, five, and six address interdependence, the success in working with others. Habit four: Think Win-Win, habit five: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood, and habit six: Synergize. The seventh habit: Sharpen the Saw, talks about building