College Students' Choice

Carol Dweck discusses the differences between two different mindsets in her book and she says that students with a fixed mindset will choose not to look at the test results of other students, especially when the fixed-minded students did poorly on an exam. Why is this? I feel that it is because the fixed-minded students want to feel like they did well no matter how poorly they may have actually done. Seeing the exam of that other student that did better than them proves that other people understand the material better, which is devastating to a fixed-minded student. If they can still believe that every one else did poorly, the student can blame thei9r failure on the exam being unfair or the professor grading extremely hard. Dweck says that students with a fixed mindset want to feel superior. They want to feel like they are the best without actually having to put forth any effort. To these students, having to put forth effort means that they aren't smart, they are just like everyone else and must actually work to do well. 
On the other hand, Dweck says that the students with the growth mindset are eager to look at others;' exams in order to learn from their mistakes. The growth students see failures not as discouraging but as motivation to do better. They seek challenges and enjoy the "fun" of learning new things. 
I feel like I am, in a way, more fixed-minded than growth-minded. I know that if I don't do well on an assignment, most of the times I do not want to see another student's paper. My excuse is that I don't want to think about the assignment anymore but really it is probably because I don't want to be discouraged by my failure. The connections that I can make with myself to the examples Dweck provides are scary. I am definitely employing the fixed mindset and each page that I read drew more connections to my life. I really feel like I'm going to enjoy reading this book.
Carol Dweck describes college students who have a fixed mindset by saying that they do not want to look at the assignments of students who did better than them. This is definitely true because the fixed-minded students do not want to feel like they failed even more than they already do. The fixed mindset students dwell on their failures and allow the failures to define their lives. The growth-minded students, on the other hand, see challenges and even failures as opportunities to improve. In short, fixed-minded students don't want to feel even more depressed about their lives than they already do. That is why they absolutely refuse to look at others' results.

Dweck, Carol S. Mindset. New York, New York: Ballantine Books, 2006.

What was Marita's Bargain?

If given the option, would you choose to go to school 3 extra hours every day and have hours of homework to do after that? I know that I wouldn't. However, Marita chose to do exactly that. Marita is a child in the inner city area of New York. Her family is not rich or powerful but she has the privilege to go to an amazing school. While her mother made the initial decision to put her in this school, Marita makes it clear that she is more than happy to stay in KIPP, the school with such a great record of achievement. Marita's bargain is that she gives up most of her social life and free time in order to get a better education at KIPP than the one she was going to receive at a public high school.
Unfortunately, the stereotype is that children that live in poor neighborhoods will have no chance of getting a solid education. Most of these children grow up not being taught the value of a good education so they have little to no motivation to strive to do well. Gladwell tells us that Marita started at KIPP by being selected in the lottery system and then her mother did not let her say no (Gladwell, 263). This shows that Marita was hesitant going into the situation, knowing that she was going to be doing much more work than she would at her old school. However, through the rest of the chapter, Gladwell makes it clear that Marita does not regret the decision. She works extremely hard at KIPP but receives a great education. She says that she hates to stop working on homework even to go eat dinner, a choice I know I would have no trouble making (Gladwell, 264).  To her, the education is more important than the "fun" life of a child. This is an attitude that I admire. 
Some people, on the other hand, may feel that the idea of KIPP is bad. Many people believe that children should enjoy the time they have before they go into the working world. "Enjoy it while it lasts," people say about youth. Do you think Maita really enjoys learning? Probably not. However, she appreciates the opportunity she has been given. This opportunity makes her an outlier. She understands that if she does not want to live in a one bedroom apartment for the rest of her life, a quality education is a step in the right direction. 
Marita makes a bargain that many people probably would not. She chooses to give up her free time in order to get harder schoolwork. Go ask some high school students if they want harder work and see what kind of response you get. However, Marita is planning for her future and her bargain definitely helps her prepare to get out of the impoverished lifestyle. 

Comparing Korea to Proctorville, Ohio

Gladwell has, once again, made me think of success in a different way. I would have never imagined that culture could have such a tremendous impact on one's ability to be successful. Unfortunately, I feel like Proctorville, my hometown, is a lot closer to Korea than it is to Harlan. In Proctorville, almost all of the people try to sugarcoat things. They try to keep from hurting other people's feelings as much as possible. The only real exception is the teenagers, and that is probably just some form of rebellion. While the higher power distance level does not lead to plane crashes, it does have negative effects on the community. People never know what their peers are actually trying to say because everyone is sure to say things in a noncommittal, sugar-coated way. People judge each other all of the time but never say anything to the person they are judging. This leads to built up hostility which, in a way, is similar to the situation in Harlan. However, it does not lead to violence. 

What is a Successful Student?

A successful student, like an outlier, depends on the situation. A successful student is one who works to their full potential. However, some students have higher potentials than others. While this may be caused by differences in maturity level, it is most likely caused by similar issues to those that Gladwell mentions in his book. The older students probably got the best treatment in the beginning of their educations and therefore always had a little advantage. This advantage could have then built up over time to become the difference betweeen straight A's and merely average grades.
Another extremely important aspect of a successful student is that the student must balance successful studies with healthy mental and social qualities. The student must not allow their studies to control them. They must have friends that they spend time with while also keeping up good study habits. One more key aspect is that students should be sure not to take on a course load that they cannot handle. Success is a relative term and, in my opinion, for a student to be successful, they have to have a healthy balance of strong academic performance along with a social life and mental health.

What is an Outlier? 1-14-11

The definition of an outlier varies depending on the situation and the perspective. Malcolm Gladwell gives the definition "something that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body" or "a statistical observation that is markedly different in value than the others in the sample." This definition is nearly identical to the one provided by Webster's dictionary. However, the real meaning of outlier is more complicated than a two- line definition.  
In some cases, the word outlier is considered a negative title. For example, if someone is a social outlier, this usually means that they are unable to, or unwilling to, get along with others in social situations. In this case, being an outlier has harmful impacts on the overall health of the person. 
However, the word outlier can have positive connotations as well. For example, Gladwell mentions Bill Joy who is considered an outlier because of his prodigious skills in the computer programming world. Joy began programming when the process was tedious, but he created programs that are still used to this day. In this case, his intelligence and natural ability made him an outlier.
In order to make a definition that incorporates both of these ideas, one must be sure to include the positive and negative connotations. A good definition could be: "any person that is, for some reason, very noticeable in a large group and this difference, whatever it may be, has a significant impact on their life." Notice that this definition only builds on the one that Gladwell provided. It is impossible to provide a concrete definition for the word outlier because the word can be used in so many different contexts. Gladwell did a pretty good job with his definition because he left it open to interpretation. This proves to be the most important part because whether a person represents an outlier is all a matter of interpretation. While this explanation, of an outlier will not provide a clear definition for every situation, it does provide a solid base with which one can judge a situation.