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Home→Resiliency→MacGyver It!

MacGyver It!

Ruth Angulo Bomar, PhD. Academic ADHD Coach Posted on by

MacGyverBack in the late 80s, we used to watch MacGyver. He is the guy who would always wind up in an impossible situation surrounded by bunch of bad guys. He would have to rescue the girl and save the world with just what he found in his back pocket. Usually this consisted of a paper clip and a credit card.

 

Sometimes you might find yourself in a seemingly impossible situation. Nothing is working. People are being unfair. It feels like everything is working against you. So what do you do?

 

MacGyver it!

 

For sake of an example I will use a really live situation with one of my students this week. He had accommodations allowing him to use his laptop to take notes but his professor frowned at this. Not wanting to get on the professor’s bad side, my student felt like he was stuck. He was having a hard time seeing a solution to his problem. That’s when I introduced the MacGyver It! Approach.

 

Here are five steps you can take to get yourself climbing the ladder out of the hole just like MacGyver!

 

STEP ONE: Define the problem.

 

Note taking in Geology class.

 

STEP TWO: Brainstorm possible solutions with a someone. Make a list. Remember when brainstorming anything goes. Just get your creative juices going.

 

Here is what we came up with:

 

  1. Record lectures
  2. Go to class website prior to class and print off notes.
  3. Ask for copies of professor’s notes.
  4. Meet with professor once a week to show her your notes and ask if you got the main points.
  5. Go meet with Dean. Go over her head.
  6. Ask a classmate to compare notes.
  7. Read text book table of contents for that week before class.

 

STEP THREE: Choose your top three choices from your brainstorm list.

 

  1. Record lectures
  2. Ask for copies of her notes.
  3. Go to class website prior to class and print off notes.

 

STEP FOUR: Choose one option that you are willing to commit to work on this week. My student chose to go to the class website prior to class and print off the notes.

 

STEP FIVE: Create a step-by-step action plan to implement your solution.

  1. Go to class website prior to class and print off notes.
  2. Go to class and take notes
  3. Compare your notes to the website notes.

 

Simple right? Next time you feel stuck, I challenge you to MacGyver it! Or just call me. I can coach you through the MacGyver It approach.

 

 

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