Discouragement and Encouragement
Recently, I received my acceptance into the Master's Degree at UW. However, it is a conditional acceptance - which would be the reason for my hesitation to announce it to the world. My acceptance is conditional on whether or not I can raise my average in the next three weeks! It seems pretty easy considering I only need to raise it 0.8%, however, it's harder than it sounds. I'm working on it though...and we'll have to see where I will be in September.
This event in my life has really opened my eyes to the effects of discouragement and encouragement. I never thought of myself as a person who needed encouragement to succeed - because ultimately, we choose our own destiny, right? We need to encourage ourselves and have the self-efficacy to believe that we can accomplish things with positive outcomes. But in the past week I have felt discouraged and encouraged and I find the latter more effective.
The discouraging part comes from my graduate office who basically told me that if I am even 0.2% shy of the minimum average, my acceptance will be revoked. If that's not discouraging, I don't know what is!! I could get *THIS* close and not make it. Close enough to smell the cake but not being able to eat it. The encouraging part is I recently met up with a few of my professors and they told me their own stories of applying for school and encouraged me to keep trying because in the end, it doesn't matter how long it takes me... as long as I get to where I want to be. And that's always encouraging to hear because these are people who have been through it and believe in me enough to say, "Ahh..don't worry."
Sometimes it seems as though events in your life are so dramatic and it effects your entire persona. I've been sad, happy, and completely emotional in the past few days trying to figure out what I want to do after I get my BA. There seems to be so many paths to take...and instead of seeing them as paths to different destinations, perhaps I should see them as many paths to one destination - ultimately to where I want to be.
It is such a different type of stand-still once you've finished school. It's like you finally have the choice...but you dread it because it is your own choice now. There was never a question of going to high school or going to University after high school. But now that University is done and I've been running around like a madwoman for the past 10 years, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do next. Maybe it's time for this madwoman to sit down for a bit and enjoy the scenery! We'll see... I'll keep you guys updated on the news. :)
This event in my life has really opened my eyes to the effects of discouragement and encouragement. I never thought of myself as a person who needed encouragement to succeed - because ultimately, we choose our own destiny, right? We need to encourage ourselves and have the self-efficacy to believe that we can accomplish things with positive outcomes. But in the past week I have felt discouraged and encouraged and I find the latter more effective.
The discouraging part comes from my graduate office who basically told me that if I am even 0.2% shy of the minimum average, my acceptance will be revoked. If that's not discouraging, I don't know what is!! I could get *THIS* close and not make it. Close enough to smell the cake but not being able to eat it. The encouraging part is I recently met up with a few of my professors and they told me their own stories of applying for school and encouraged me to keep trying because in the end, it doesn't matter how long it takes me... as long as I get to where I want to be. And that's always encouraging to hear because these are people who have been through it and believe in me enough to say, "Ahh..don't worry."
Sometimes it seems as though events in your life are so dramatic and it effects your entire persona. I've been sad, happy, and completely emotional in the past few days trying to figure out what I want to do after I get my BA. There seems to be so many paths to take...and instead of seeing them as paths to different destinations, perhaps I should see them as many paths to one destination - ultimately to where I want to be.
It is such a different type of stand-still once you've finished school. It's like you finally have the choice...but you dread it because it is your own choice now. There was never a question of going to high school or going to University after high school. But now that University is done and I've been running around like a madwoman for the past 10 years, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do next. Maybe it's time for this madwoman to sit down for a bit and enjoy the scenery! We'll see... I'll keep you guys updated on the news. :)
posted by Mandy Lam at
12:24 PM
2 Comments:
It's all in you remember that.... your happiness, where you want to go, what you want to do. I say you take a break and then go back, cause i've seen what the pressures of school can do to someone... you'll get exactly where you want to be ... because you always have.
ciao and good luck
By
alf, at 5:07 PM
hmmmm...i disagree, there's no need for a break.
you're almost home free, girlfriend!
you kick school's ass, you tell it to make you a sandwich and CUT THE CRUST!
we're all rooting for you!
do, just DO, because your best surpasses 0.8% know when to ask for help, know when to break, know when to pat yourself on the back!
"the man" tries to psyche you out with all these fancy percent numbers and false peer pressure, but it's all in our head!
Girl, we got your back :D
YOU CAN DO IT!
By
Nadie, at 12:58 AM
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