Page 116 - Keys to College Success

Personality and

Learning Preferences

WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT MAKES YOU UNIQUE?

What Would You Risk? John Loblack, Ph.D.

THINK ABOUT THIS SITUATION AS YOU READ, AND CONSIDER WHAT ACTION YOU WOULD TAKE. THIS
CHAPTER HELPS YOU ASSESS YOUR PREFERENCES FOR LEARNING AND INTERACTION, AND SHOWS
YOU HOW TO USE THIS INFORMATION TO MAKE PRACTICAL DECISIONS ABOUT WORK AND STUDYING.

John Loblack seemed destined for a life of poverty in his whole perspective on the value of
Caribbean homeland of Dominica. He skipped school, teachers and education,” John recalls.
stole candy from a local market, and surrounded himself Suddenly, as a result of his mother’s
with friends who were dropouts or drug addicts—”dream risky action, he felt how much she and
killers,” as he calls them, who didn’t believe he had what his teacher cared, and realized that he
it took to succeed. “The sad thing is, I believed them,” had an opportunity to achieve something.
says John of those people and that time. Despite his lack Although she struggled to read and write
of faith in himself, his mother, Lucia, was determined to herself, his mother had energized him with her support.
get him away from the dream killers and to help him dis- After getting through high school, John got his first job
cover and develop his abilities. as an insurance salesman, but he lacked self-confidence. Still
One day in elementary school, John cursed at one of unsure of where his talents lay, he took a risk to try radio
his teachers after class. Later that day, while he played soc- announcing, landing an interview after applying to five dif-
cer at the park, the teacher went to John’s home, sharing ferent jobs. Although the manager told him that his reading
tea and stories with Lucia. Instead of discussing the meet- was not good enough for national radio, he liked John’s
ing with John that night as he expected, Lucia showed up voice and offered him a six-month probationary period. John
at school the next day and confronted John in front of the wondered if this would be another dead-end path in his
teacher and his friends, challenging him to take responsi- search for work that would inspire and motivate him.
bility for his actions. “That singular incident changed my To be continued . . .

DESPITE HIS DESIRE TO
PERSIST IN SCHOOL, JOHN
STRUGGLED WITH READING
THROUGHOUT HIS EDUCA-
TION, AND FOLLOWED A
WINDING PATH TO SELF-
KNOWLEDGE. YOU’LL
LEARN MORE ABOUT JOHN, Working through this chapter will help you to:
AND THE REWARD RESULT-
ING FROM HIS ACTIONS, • Assess learning preferences P. 81
WITHIN THE CHAPTER. • Investigate how you prefer to interact with information
and people P. 85
• Explore how learning preferences relate to how you study P. 92
• Identify classroom and study strategies that work effectively
with particular preferences P. 89
• Determine ways to adjust to different teaching styles P. 90
• Build lesser-developed learning preferences P. 92
• Identify and manage learning disabilities P. 97