MindShift | Katrina Schwartz
Adilene Rodriguez admits she has always struggled with academics. Especially in middle school she hated getting up early, found her classes boring and didn’t really see where it was all going. When she started her freshman year at Arroyo High School in San Lorenzo, California, just south of Oakland, she was a shy student who rarely spoke up in class and had little confidence in herself as a scholar.
Rodriguez is now a senior and her approach to school has changed dramatically over her high school career. She attributes her shift to her freshman science teacher, Jim Clark, who taught the class about growth mindset from the very beginning and backed up the discussion with action.
“He would tell me, ‘You need to push yourself, that’s how you’re going to grow. Be confident. You’re not always going to be successful on your first tries, but you can get there,’ ” Rodriguez said.
She didn’t believe him at first; she thought she just wasn’t good at science. But with Clark’s insistence and support, she started participating in class more and struggled through difficult units.
When Clark suggested Rodriguez take AP biology she resisted, scared she’d be unprepared for the challenge. She thought that if she had struggled in freshman biology, there was no way she could hack the tougher course. But Clark convinced her to challenge herself, making the case that no one grows inside their comfort zone. Rodriguez says that class changed her life.
“It was one of those classes where the bell rings and you don’t want to leave. You want to keep discussing,” Rodriguez said. “And it’s what I want to do now for a career. I really love biology.”
In the summer between her junior and senior year, Rodriguez even took a college-level genetics class for fun, although she found out later she’d get college credits for it.
by MindMake via MindMake Blog
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