By Amanda Alba/reporter
People have to fail to succeed, three advisers told NE students during a Start on Track workshop Jan. 31.
Each adviser addressed a technique for students to understand there are different ways to be smart and that failing is part of life.
NE academic adviser Brittany Turner asked students if they think they had to be smart to succeed in college. Most students answered with “Yes,” but she said the answer is “No.” Turner explained that to succeed in college, people must have G.R.I.T.
“Growth, resilience, integrity and tenacity are all things you have to be able to follow through with,” she said.
For example, students feel like they have to give up the first time they fail when they should be learning from their mistakes and taking responsibility for it.
“Not everything will work out how you want it to,” she said.
NE special services coordinator Ronda Isaacs addressed her eight different types of learners for students. She said she has been on the other side of the desk wondering what her best learning ability is, which is why she relates well to most students.
“Everybody learns by what we see, what we do and what we hear,” she said. “There is no right way to be intelligent.”
Someone could be smart in numbers, but someone else could be smart in language, Isaacs said. It all depends on how that person learns because no two people learn the same.
“There are a lot of different ways to be smart,” she said.
NE academic adviser Jessi Hitt addressed her “smart goals” technique. Having realistic goals to achieve will help people to succeed a little at a time.
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” she said. “Remind yourself what you are working towards.”
Be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely, she said. No one succeeds the first time around but do not let that failure get into your head. Get up and try again.
NE student Nagla Elrayah said the workshop changed her mindset about not only college, but life.
“It motivated me to work harder by giving me examples and to not panic,” Elrayah said.
