Korbin was on his way to his history class. The week before he had turned in a paper on a topic he liked and understood. He had even turned it in on time. On this day, the professor returned the paper with a C and Korbin was very disappointed. Later that week, when we met for our coaching session, he told me that he had already dropped the course leaving him enrolled in three courses for the semester. He told me that he didn’t have time for a class like this one where the professor didn’t like his writing. He described how unfair the grade was. Korbin went on to say that life was unfair, and all his writing efforts are useless. The anger and frustration in his voice were obvious.

On a different campus, Bryan was enrolled in four courses, and like Korbin, had to write a paper. After putting in a lot of effort in writing his paper just like Korbin, he earned a C. Bryan was also very disappointed. However, later that week when we met for our coaching session, he was still enrolled in the course. Bryan told me that he had worked real hard on the paper and he had thought he would earn at least a B. He felt the professor was an unnecessarily hard grader. His feelings of anger and frustration were obvious.

Who wouldn’t be upset with a mere C after all the hard work of writing a paper?

Poor grades and disappointments are not fun events. Korbin responded to the low grade by dropping the course and feeling a lot of anger. Bryan also felt anger and frustration, but he followed them with a question. How can I do better next time?

I’m so glad he did.

During our coaching sessions we explored the experience by asking questions like these. “How many weeks are left in the semester? How many assignments are left in this course? How much are these assignments worth? What is my current average in this course? What do I need to earn in this course to preserve my GPA or reach my GPA goals?”  After all this information was gathered then we could ascertain whether it was mathematically possible to reach his semester grade goals.

In Bryan’s case, there were enough assignments left that he had a good probability of earning the B he wanted for the course. So, we worked on a plan to do better next time.

These two true life stories (I used pseudo-names) demonstrate what psychologists describe as mindset.

Korbin shows a fixed mindset. A student with a fixed mindset looks at poor grade and thinks  The professor didn’t even cover this in class. It’s not fair. I  couldn’t find the sources I needed because the librarians are always rude. The assignment was unreasonable. This is just a sophomore level class and the professor is treating it like a senior level class. I’m a terrible writer. 

A fixed mindset views “smartness” as a fixed asset. As something that you got or you don’t. If something is hard it’s because you’re not smart enough. If you struggle it must mean you’re don’t got what it takes to succeed.  Every assignment is a measurement of your intelligence so if you get a low grade it must mean you’re not smart. You see failure as a humiliation.

In contrast, Bryan demonstrated a growth mindset. A student with a growth mindset looks at low grade and thinks My work needs improvement.   Maybe I’ll look into the writing center and see what they can do to help my writing improve.   This class is harder than I thought, I better go talk with the professor. He seems like he’s the kind of professor who is willing to work with me and help me understand. 

A growth mindset views “smartness” as something that can grow. If something is hard, then it’s time to come up with a plan to tackle it. When facing a challenge, you realize you don’t have all the answers, but you believe you can figure it out or find help. You face failure and feel bad like anyone would, but you’re willing to learn from it and try again. 

People with fixed mindsets expect ability to show up on its own, before any learning happens. They expect school to be easy and if they must struggle to learn then something is wrong. On the other hand, people with growth mindsets have a realistic expectation that school will be challenging and that there is fun and fulfillment in the struggle to learn the material.

Back to the story of Korbin, fixed mindset, and Bryan, growth mindset. Korbin had more writing assignments in his other classes and the stress kept escalating. He became angrier. One month before finals, he quit his coaching sessions with me so I don’t know if he finished the semester or not. Bryan also, had more writing assignments in his classes but unlike Korbin, Bryan worked on his writing skills. He completed all four courses with Bs and Cs.

So what should you do if you earn a C?  Answer: Think like someone with a GROWTH mindset

If you want to learn more about mindsets, you should read the research done by Carol Dweck. 

Or contact me for a complimentary coaching consult. http://www.ruthbomar.com/contact/

Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash