Journal Topic #3—Reflect on Your Past Behavior

Think about a time when your fixed mindset limited your beliefs or actions and another
time when your growth mindset helped you deal with a challenge you faced. In your
journal, respond to these questions:
● What was the situation for each? (They can be related)
When I was getting my associates degree I had to take several math classes and pass them
as one of the degree requirements, but I failed one of the most important classes. I was
extremely stressed about this and I cried a lot, and my fixed mindset had me thinking that I
was never gonna be able to get the math requirement and get my degree.
However, I found a statistics class that would count for the math requirement and I was
able to take that during the next quarter. I ended up doing very well in that class because I
knew if I applied myself and worked hard I could get it done, and I ended up getting the
best grade of all my classes during that quarter in that class.

● How did I act? Did I choose a fixed or a growth mindset?

At first I felt restricted by a fixed mindset because I thought it would be impossible to get
my math requirement. I decided to look at other class options and found one that was
better suited for me and my skill set. I decided that I could excel in this class if I made it my
biggest priority and put all of my effort into it.
 ● What made me choose one mindset over the other? Was there a pattern of
events
What made me choose the growth mindset was knowing that I had to get a math
requirement to get my associates degree, so I had to figure out how to meet that
requirement. I knew that I would have to stop feeling sorry about failing my class
and continue pushing forward because I needed that degree.

● Would there have ever been a similar instance or a different pattern of events
that would change my mindset? How might the results or outcome change?
I think if I hadn’t found the statistics class and was able to excel in it, I could have probably
become even further discouraged and not been able to meet my math requirement. This
could have possibly led to me becoming discouraged due to my timeline of my AA degree
getting messed up and causing me to have to stay longer at the school I was attending.