College Students and Test Grades

From the very beginning, Carol Dweck’s book, Mindset, is far different from Outliers. Dweck discusses the importance of having the right mindset in order to succeed. She says there are two types of mindset—fixed and growth. The people with fixed mindsets tend to “prove [themselves] over and over,” while people who have growth mindsets encourage people to improve themselves (Dweck, 2008). She uses these mindsets to explain a situation involving college students and their test scores. She says that students who have this fixed mindset chose to only look at others’ exams that had done worse on the exam themselves, rather than those who had done better. On the other hand, the students with the growth mindsets were eager to look at people with higher scores. This directly falls back on the definitions of the two mindsets. The students that are fixed are continually trying to prove themselves, and by acknowledging that they had done poorly on a test, or at least worse than someone else, would be a direct contradiction to their feelings of being the best. They would find the scores discouraging and as a blow to their ego. The growth individuals, however, would be encouraged to look at others’ test and would see it as a way of improving their next test score. They could reevaluate their study partners and get study tips from the students that did better.

            It’s funny, because I can see myself as someone with both mindsets. In some cases, I can empathize with the people that didn’t want to see those who had done better. If I know someone studied less, or acted like the exam was irrelevant, and I studied for hours and put everything I had into it, I’m bothered if they did better, and I certainly don’t want to look at how much better they did. on the flip side, if I miss a question or do poorly on a test, I like to confer with someone who got the right answer or a better score and see how/why they got that so I know for next time.  I can see why either side would choose to look or not to look.

So far, I really like Dweck’s interpretation of success and how it is attained, but then again, I don’t like the use of “fixed” for describing a mindset. I don’t necessarily think everyone has a fixed mindset, much less a fixed “fixed” mindset. I think there is always room for improvement and that a lot of people, once they realize they are looking at things in a close-minded way and not looking to better themselves, can change their ways and be more open to improvement.

Dweck, C. S. (2007). Mindset: the new psychology of success. Ballantine Books.

What Was Marita's Bargain?

Unfortunately in America, we still have people that have to make this bargain--grow up too fast to get out of poverty, or be a kid and never get out. On page 264 of Outliers, Marita talks about waking up a 5:45 AM and, basically, doing school work until 11PM, as a student at KIPP, Knowledge Is Power Program (Gladwell, 2008). That's something that even I, a college student, don't do. Because she is the child of a single mom, who lives in the lower income Bronx of New York, she is not given the same opportunity that someone in the Upper East Side of Manhattan would be. If she does not attend KIPP, she will most likely remain in poverty the rest of her life. At merely twelve years old, she realizes this is her only shot to better her education; she realizes the situation she and her mom are in and takes it upon herself to get out of it.

While this is truly admirable, it's something a young girl should never have to face. Here it is, the 21^st century, where dogs have chips implanted in them in case they get lost, and people have brain surgery and go home the next day, people are not only living in economic poverty, they are living with educational poverty. We have a free school system from kindergarten to senior year, and it is a shame that people who live in lower income areas are not getting the same education as those in middle or upper class districts.

Marita sacrificed her childhood, the time she should be running around and playing and carefree, for a strict routine of 14+ hours of schooling and homework. It’s remarkable that she values her education so—something I think more people should do, but it is sad that she has to go to such lengths. By doing so, however, she is putting herself on the fast track to an undoubtedly high paying salary, and hopefully with her brains and determination, it will be doing something she is incredibly passionate about and enjoys. She sees things in a very adult way; instead of thinking about right now, she’s thinking about her future.

What I am most concerned about is that when she gets older and starts college and her career, will she reach a “breaking point?” Will she realize she was essentially robbed of her childhood, or gave it up rather, and begin to resent her mother for being in poverty? Or, on the other end of the spectrum, will she realize everything her mother did to get her there and take a greater amount of pride in herself? I hope the latter.

Glawell, M. (2008). Outliers: the story of success. Little, Brown and Company.

Ashland, Kentucky and Harlan, Kentucky.

I live in Ashland, Kentucky, a small town of about 20,000 people. Everyone’s family knows everyone else’s, and kids that grew up together stay friends for life. Friday night ball games are as important here as putting food on the table and sometimes are taken to the extreme. While unlike Harlan, Kentucky, Ashland doesn’t have feuding families—or at least none that I’m aware of—there are two school districts in Boyd County, where Ashland is located, that fight like siblings. Blazer High School is home to the Ashland Tomcats, where people bleed maroon. Located about 15 minutes away is Boyd County High School, where everyone is a Lion. Football and basketball games between the schools would be heavily patrolled by the law, and parents wouldn’t let small children wander around. Fights would break out and people would be arrested over which school they went to. Like the Turner/Howard situation, no one really knows why the two hated each other so much. Yeah, there were little things that came up like in Harlan (not downplaying the murders that took place) where one team would vandalize another team’s school bus, field, mascot, and so on, but what really started it all is a mystery.

People from Ashland are referred to as preppy, goody-goods, who wear name brand clothes and strut around like they’re all high and mighty. Hick, hillbilly, and redneck have been associated with kids from Boyd County. They drive old beat up Fords and wear flannels and Carhartt; we drive sports cars and “bowties” and wouldn’t be caught dead in cowboy boots. Obviously, this is all wrong, but for some reason we carry the tradition on from generation to generation. The best part is, Boyd County High School is located in Ashland, Kentucky, and Ashland, Kentucky is in Boyd County. I’m inclined to say that Boyd County is like the Turners, they’re the ones starting all the trouble, and us Tomcats are just defending ourselves, but who knows really.

As time goes on, though, the two schools have seemed to somewhat have…controlled their hatred and violence and such has died down. Nevertheless, kindergarteners from Ashland hate the County kids from the first day.

What is a Successful Student?

Many people base success on how much money is made, what achievements are earned, or even how famous one is. For me, a successful student is simply one that does their best and tries their hardest. I think many times parents hold their children to certain standards, and in some cases they are just too high. You cannot compare ones success at being a student to another. One may make straight A's by cheating all through school, while the next makes C's and B's but learns as they go. The second student would, in my opinion, be most successful. They put forth the most effort and did things on their own. Hard work and perseverance are also essential when it comes to success. Success is not attained overnight and is usually immeasurable. Successful students know how to study and utilize things to get the most out of their classes. They expose themselves to different thoughts and cultures and are open minded to new ideas.

For me, success is what you make it. Whether it be playing your hardest and winning the state championship, or playing your hardest and coming in last in the league, you can be successful no matter the outcome. As long as you know at the end of the day you did what it was you intended on doing and you followed through with everything you had, you are successful. As we grow up, we are faced with all different kinds of problems; part of being successful is knowing how to handle these challenges with dignity and grace, even in the most grim of circumstances.

What is an Outlier?

What first comes to mind when I think of the word "outlier" is my tenth grade Accelerated Algebra 2 teacher. She was reviewing mean, median, mode, and range with the class and said that many times you will have data called an outlier, or extreme. As I've gotten older and progressed not only in my education, but also in my maturity and awareness of others, I see that the term "outlier" can apply to many things--people, places, numbers, and so forth.

In Gladwell's Outliers: The Story of Success, he focuses on people and how they, obviously, succeed. On the very first page, Gladwell denotes an outlier as being--(noun) 1. Something that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body. 2. A statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the other of the sample.

According to Merriam-Webster Online, an outlier is 1: a person whose residence and place of business are at a distance 2: something (as a geological feature) that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body 3: a statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the others of the sample.

For me, outliers are basically something different then everything else. Something that stands apart from everything else. Considering this, aren't we all outliers? And if that is the case, then is there such a thing as an outlier?