In today’s society, intelligence isn’t always regarded as the key to success. The average person has the same education. As a result, it is more important to test a person for their persistence in working. Jimmy, a high school friend of mine in China was the president of a Nanjing University of Technology student union. I had no doubts that he’d be able achieve this because he was always so hardworking. According to my impression, he is going to continue being excellent in both his academic and professional career in the near future. He was not the brightest person I’ve ever met, but he was persistent. It is possible that someone will ask you: Why I am so sure about him, and why I have such confidence in his ability to succeed in this competitive and unpredictable world? Because I knew him. He was so tenacious since he was in high school. He was dedicated to a single task and could focus until it was completed. He rarely gave up, unlike others.
He spent hours and hours arranging it. I remember when I attended high school. Our teacher had set us very hard homework and stated that we can quit if we cannot solve the problem. I was one of those students who gave up after a half hour. The problem seemed impossible to solve because it was so complex. The teacher asked the class about the problem. Only one person could answer, and that was the student who had spent all night solving it. I believe that grit, not smartness, is more important for students to achieve. In this way, educating students about the importance grit has can be very beneficial. The educators must also be more attentive to the way in which they can cultivate grit among students. In order to maximize students’ accomplishments, educators and teachers should create an atmosphere that fosters grit. Grit can really help students achieve their long term goals. Grit can be defined as passion and perseverance for long-term objectives. Grit means working with passion and perseverance to overcome challenges despite adversity, failure and plateaus. This persistence in effort helps overcome obstacles and challenges. This is a quality that’s important to an individual who wants to succeed. It acts as the driving force for achievement. Within the psychology world, grit is associated with concepts including “perseverance”, Hardiness”, Resilience”, Need for Achievement”, and Consciousness. These constructs are more about individual differences in relation to work than latent abilities. Perlis has identified five main characteristics for grit. These are courage and conscientiousness. It is important to be able to overcome fear of failing. This is a key factor in determining success.
The incredibly gritty are not afraid of tanking. Instead, they embrace it. People often faced difficulties. They would recover from failures quickly if they had the courage. Duckworth also says that conscientiousness, among the five personality characteristics, is most closely related to grit. Successful individuals are those who work tirelessly and do their best to complete the task. They also tend to be gritty. Duckworth writes “… Achievement is the product both of talent and of effort. Grit is also linked to long-term goals. Bill Gates, Steve Job and the Beatles have all achieved such incredible spheres of power through their long term goals and kept gritty over many years. Grit is also a great tool for excellence and resilience. It is normal to fail repeatedly and to feel defeated. You must then get up and try again. Grit and college completion: College is considered to be one of the biggest periods in an individual’s life. College is the place where you learn how to apply knowledge. During their college experience, students have the opportunity to gain knowledge about topics that interest them and are of interest to them. The college years are a transitional period between high school and the real world. Not only do students learn new knowledge but also how to manage their lives, solve problems and be social. In fact, college can be considered one of life’s most important phases. In turn, college completion is becoming a social issue.
Hanford’s study revealed that grit can be used to solve this problem. Grit is passion and persistence for long-term objectives. Hanford (2012) Grit means working hard for people’s long-term goals, every day, for many years. Angela Lee Duckworth was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who conducted a number of research studies that were widely recognized. (Duckworth (2007))After focusing on the topic of grit for college completion, Duckworth began conducting studies to better understand what determines college perseverance among graduates from high-performing urban Charter School networks :YES Prep Public Schools Houston, Mastery Charter Schools Philadelphia, Aspire Public Schools California, Achievement First Schools Connecticut. The college experience is meant to challenge students regardless of whether they’re first-generation, or if their families are college educated. Villanueva says, “It is like moving to a new country and having to learn how to navigate programs and systems that you’ve never encountered before.” First-generation students may face additional obstacles, such as financial aid or obligations to family members. This means that they must not only study, but work or look after their siblings. This makes their experience even more difficult, and lowers the graduation rate. Angela Duckworth argues that grit will help you succeed in college. Duckworth’s research shows that those who are successful in obtaining an associate’s or bachelor’s is more gritty. The same amount of grit it takes to earn an associate’s or Ph.D. is required. Our culture and history tell us that everything, including grit, can be taught.
Environment has a significant impact on human characteristics. My opinion is that students are more likely to be gritty when they’re in a tight situation. The pressure will make them stand out. Angela Lee Duckworth, in her research, found that a “growth mentality” was developed at Standford University and is the best tool to develop grit. (Duchworth 2007)The ability of learning is not fixed. It can be improved by people with their efforts. Dr. Dweck has said that children are more likely not to forget their failures when they learn about how the brain grows and changes as it is challenged.
When confronted with a challenge, educators can encourage their students to make the most of all their abilities, efforts, and courage, and to persevere until the problem is resolved. However, if educators or teachers misuse it, the results can be negative. Take for example a teacher who assigns students overloaded homework or projects. Students may become depressed after they have failed to correct it many times. This behavior can destroy a child’s self-confidence. In Silo, UC Davis, I conducted a study on “How much work students should be assigned to achieve grittyness”. The silo is located in the middle of campus and many students, freshmen, seniors, sophomores, etc., will encounter it. My location allows me to reach all students at UC Davis. Nearly 20 students of different grades and countries were asked about the amount of homework that would be helpful to them. They all had different answers and different reasons. After collecting my research, I found out that 76% thought the proper amount of hard work is necessary for gritty people, while only 10% said overload work was useful. The educators should be more attentive to the training method and degree when it comes to teaching students gritty.
In some cases, gritty is more important than IQ. Grit is a quality that can be taught by educators to students. This will help them achieve a higher rate of completion in college. It is important that educators pay close attention to the way they teach students grit because everything can go wrong if the skills are incorrect. Reference Lists Margaret M. Perlis (2012) 5 Characteristics Of Grit – How Many Do You Have? Emily Hanford (2012) What is the importance of Grit for Student Achievements? Angela L. Duckworth, (2007) Grit – Perseverance for long-term goals.