Page 357 - Keys to College Success

Emotional intelligence. Teamwork is important now, in college, and will continue
to feature prominently in your working and personal life. Tuning into yourself and
others in an emotionally intelligent way is at the heart of effective, goal-achieving
communciation.

Growth mindset. With the attitude that you can always grow and learn, you are as
ready to achieve the goals you set today as you are to achieve future goals you cannot
yet anticipate.

Integrity. Risking day-to-day choices that display academic integrity rewards you
with a habit of personal integrity for life. The neural pathways those habits forge in
your brain will benefit you, leading you to consistently make honest and moral choices.

Self-sufficiency. Having gotten through your first term of college, you are likely to
have tackled several challenges on your own. If you handle problems with initiative
and action and solicit experienced advisors when you need backup, you will be both
self-advocate and first responder.

Responsibility and planning. Taking the risk to be self-sufficient and responsible
rewards you with increased ability to manage your life. Every life and study skill you’ve
built this term increases your ability to plan.

Self-control and willpower. Your most important goals demand energy and time
that the temptations of modern life can drain away. Managing your exposure to tech-
nology and systematizing your schedule are risks calculated to help you minimize
decision fatigue and conserve your resources.

As you continue in college, remind yourself that you are creating tools that will
benefit you in everything you do. You don’t stop learning because you graduate. Life-
long learning is the master key that unlocks the doors you encounter on
your journey. With it firmly in your hand, you will discover worlds of
knowledge—and a place for yourself within them.

Face Change and Challenges with Risk-Taking

As a citizen of the 21st century, you will experience exciting changes as
well as troubling ones. Changes and challenges such as failed or incom-
plete courses, job offers or job losses, scholarship offers or financial
struggles may arise. Your ability to respond to change with risk-taking
aimed at a positive reward, especially if the change is unexpected and
difficult, is crucial to your future success. The ability to “make lemon-
ade from lemons” is the hallmark of people who know how to hang
on to hope.
Use your optimistic explanatory style to analyze situations, generate
solutions, and take practical action. With this skill you can:

■ See adversity as temporary. Consider losing a job, for example, as a
step along the way to a better one.
■ See the limited scope of your problems. One issue does not make
your entire life a disaster.
■ Avoid the personal. If you look for explanation in the details of a
situation instead of seeing yourself as incompetent, you can keep
your self-esteem and creative energy alive.
With successful intelligence, a growth mindset, and learned optimism,
you will always have a new direction in which to grow. Your willingness

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