Assignment 14A - Halfway Reflection

1. Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course? 

• Organization is the key to keeping up with the requirements of this course. Before the semester began, I wrote down the due dates for this class (amongst others) and made it my goal to finish each set of assignments the week before they are due (see to the right). This meant that I would dedicate Fridays (since there is no class on Fridays) to completing the following week’s assignments. This allowed me adequate time to schedule interviews, write meaningful peer reviews, and read any course material such as this week’s [auto]biography. 
2. Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this? 
• I felt like giving up earlier this week because I had two exams on the same day and fell behind on homework assignments and studying due to a combination of my 21st birthday and our homecoming game. Come Sunday, I had not looked at a single thing for any of my classes. Even after 12 long hours in Lib West, I was not any closer to being done and the frustration of it was getting to me. However, I pulled through. I was able to keep studying because I told myself that I had spent the last few days relaxing and blowing off steam, and that a few days of studying is well past due. Additionally, I reinforced that sometimes it’s okay to fail and that a single exam grade should not be the reason I give up on myself. This tenacious attitude has been developing for quite a while now, mainly starting last Spring where I was working full-time and taking 12 credits (including Business Finance). 
3. Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset'? 
• Ask for help. While things like deadlines can’t be changed in the interest of academic fairness, you can still ask for help from others whether that is as simple as asking your roommates to pick up groceries for you because you need to study. 
• Treat everything as if it’ll contribute to the next chapter of your life and the tenacious mindset will follow. For instance, I know that in Spring I will be applying to graduate school and I remind myself that every time I want to give up on classes because what I do now can affect my future. 
• Manage your time! If you manage your time well, this is not a demanding class (especially with no exams). However sometimes life gets in the way and there will be days that your friends will go to happy hour, and you are going to need the self-discipline to say no and stay in.