Continuing Academic Success Essay
John Smith
GEN 201

Continuing Academic Success Essay
Even though you're scared of academic failure, make sure you know yourself because knowing what your goals are and how to accomplish them and to know what resources are available will help you succeed.
Going back to school can be terrifying, especially after being out school for so long. You, like myself, are probably telling yourself that you can’t do it. You haven’t been in school in so long; things have changed so much. We all hate the thought of failure; the truth is you won’t know until you try. There are things you can do to help yourself prepare for returning to school, and I’m going to go over some that I have learned along the way. The most important thing you need to know when returning to school is yourself. You can’t be successful if you don’t know your strengths and weaknesses. By taking a look at yourself, you can get a grasp on what areas of learning you might struggle with and what part of learning should come easy. There are many factors that can influence how we learn. These factors can include your behavioral characteristics, how much life experience you have, which of your senses are most predominant and whether or not you are self-directed in your learning (Reuter, 2000). For instance, I know that I need to be shown a few times, then I need just to dive in and try it myself. If I don’t get that hands on experience, all the telling me in the world doesn’t make a difference. Knowing this, I have become better even in my career. Understanding how you learn helps you teach others. If you can spot their learning style, you will be better informed on how you should show them whatever it is you are trying to teach them. Another area that can sway your learning style is ethics, knowing where you stand ethically will help you identify your learning style. Ethics and critical thinking go hand and hand. You need to think critically and take your ethics into account when coming to a conclusion. You look at all the angles and hear all the points of view, and think of what the conclusion might be before forming an opinion. For Example: at work you have a specific code of ethics you have to follow. This code sways the way you answer an employee on any topic. Your personal ethics does the same thing for your learning style. You should have an ethical lens inventory done; it is a great way to get some helpful self-perspective. According to University of Phoenix ELI Ethical Lens Inventory (2014), I use my reasoning skills (rationality) to determine both the universal rules that each person should follow (autonomy) and the processes that will assure fairness and justice for all in the community (equality). Knowing all of this about myself helps to set me up to accomplish any goals I set for myself.

One of my personal goals is to be a better writer so that I am taken seriously in my new position at work. So I know that I need to think ethically how I can go about writing in a reasonable way to help me learn to be a better writer. I know I’m more hands on so I will have to read all I can about grammar and punctuation and writing well, and just go out there and do it. The biggest reason you need to know yourself is to help you set goals and know how to accomplish them. Setting goals is going to be the second most important thing to help be successful academically and in everyday life. Using the knowledge, you have gained about yourself and the resources provided you should have a plan set in place to help you accomplish your goals. Knowing your strengths weaknesses, and goals will put you on the path to academic success. The thing about school is you have to put in the time. I have a chaotic schedule with work hours changing all the time and a family I have to make sure to put together a plan to ensure that I am getting the time I need to be successful in my academics. I am also a slow reader, so I know I need to a lot more time for reading. These are some of my weaknesses, now that I have identified them I can be aware of them when planning whether it be for school or any phase of my life. You need to know your strengths also; I like to be informed about whatever I am doing so I will research it and be ready when it comes time to get it done. I am also a motivated person, so I know that given the proper time and planning I will accomplish my goals. Make sure your goals -- the outcomes you're looking to achieve -- are composed of tasks you can actually accomplish. Examine the sacrifices you'll have to make and the obstacles you'll have to overcome, or else your dream will remain too ethereal. Your goals are the end result; understanding the process of reaching that finish line is just as important as knowing where the finish line is (Gibbons, 2013, p. 1).

While all of this is necessary to be successful in academics you also need to know what resources are available, that will help you succeed. In school as in life you use certain tools to do the job, a carpenter is just a man without his hammer. You can use the tools that the university supplies you with to be a successful student. As a student I want to be a better writer; the university has put together some great resources to make that happen. I will also use these tools to better myself in my career. I want to be a better writer, so I am taken more serious in my career. How you write goes a long way towards how people in a professional setting perceive you. If I can refine my writing skills in school, it will help me a great deal in my future career endeavors. One of my favorite resources that the university supplies is the grammarly tool in the CWE, I’m not certain that I could write a comparable student essay without it. It has been so long since I have been in school and had to do such a thing. Also with my learning style I know that it will show me what I’m doing wrong and how to fix it and over time the more I write, the less I will need it. Other great resources you have through the school is the plagiarism check, plagiarism is a very serious offense that is so easy to do accidentally. Knowing that you have a tool that will help you make sure you haven’t crossed that line and made a mistake is priceless. You never want to take someone else’s work and make as if it were your own, always give credit where credit is due. You should also look into outside sources; this can be a great insight into the topic. Others have a different way of looking at things and will help you think about the subject in a different way. You still need to cite these sources as well, again you want to give credit where credit is due. One of the most important things I learned in this course is that if you aren’t sure on whether you should cite something just do it to be safe.
So if you can take a look at yourself, apply the formula of critical thinking, ethics and planning. You should be able to accomplish any task school has to throw at you. Just be sure to use your resources and don’t be scared be informed, and you will be successful in every facet of your life.

References

Reuter, J. (2000, Mar 29). Know which style of learning suits you best. Cowichan Valley Citizen pp.1. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/358196481?accountid=35812

Gibbons, T. J. (2003, Jul 27). Workers should plan ahead, know where they want to be in five years. Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, pp. 1. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/463828149?accountid=35812

University of Phoenix. (2014). ELI Ethical Lens Inventory. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, gen201 Foundations for University Success website.

Ellis, D. B. (2011). Becoming A Master Student (15th ed.). Retrieved from www.cengage.com/highered.