14A – Halfway Reflection

Tenaciousness is a competency

Since this class is completely online, I have learnt how to prioritize my time. By assigning a single date for all assignment submissions, its definitely easier to keep track of it. I used to procrastinate a lot but with this class its harder to do that since the assignments do require a lot of materials like interview sessions, video recording and book reading. So I  make a schedule and on days where I have don’t have a lot of workload or during exam weeks, I try to complete my assignments beforehand so that I have one less thing to worry about.

Tenaciousness is also about attitude.

While I haven’t had that moment in this class, there have been times where I felt like giving up in my finance class because I felt none of my hard work was paying off. Before my first exam, I decided to devote my entire time to that class and for that I stopped socializing and attending classes for my other lectures. Even after all, when I saw my exam score, I had a moment where I felt like maybe I should just drop out of the class and change my major. At that moment I became so negative that I didn’t realize that finance was a very new concept for me and for concepts to develop it takes time and work. You just need to keep at it and keep working hard for that course because life isn’t going to get easier from this point and if we give up at every hurdle then what’s the purpose of it all. So at hard times I try to give myself small pep talks and I try to stay focused on my vision and what I want out of life.

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?

First tip would be to not leave your work till the last moment because if you do then really you’re not going to be able to pass the class. Go over the assignments and see which ones require more information so that you can start them beforehand rather getting surprised and annoyed at the last moment.

Second tip is try to attend the live lectures if you can because they are way more interactive and this way you can build a relationship with the professor which can help you later when you need recommendations.

Third tip: don’t be afraid to speak up in class and pitch your ideas. Sure your first idea may not make enough sense and so might your second, but at least you’re not stopping the thinking process. Your small problem might be affection millions of students at large and the good thing is Professor Pryor gives good feedback and he helps you understand where you’re going wrong when you pitch the idea to him.