Six Habits of Highly Grateful People

Gratefulness. A trait that everyone should pay more attention to, that of which Jeremy Adam Smith highlights in "Six Habits of Highly Grateful People". Smith elaborated all the components that make up a grateful person. One who often thinks about death and loss, takes the time to smell the roses, takes the good things as gifts, not birthrights, are grateful to people, not just things, mentions the pancakes, thanks outside the box ("Six Habits..."). All of these are key factors in becoming a truly thankful person. Responding to all that Smith had to say about gratefulness, I would like to explore my own thoughts on the subject.
I agree that gratefulness is beneficial in one's life. I feel as though if a person is more grateful on a daily basis, they are overall more happy. This could possibly be fake happiness in the moment, but that will eventually transfer into a pure emotion. Take soccer practice, for example, since I am so familiar with that topic. While at soccer practice in the scorching hot weather, with our coach down our throat, we have to stay grateful to stay sane. There is one girl on our team that I especially envy because of her ability to stay positive. We normally practice for two hours everyday, and we can keep track of the passing time because of the loud bell we have on campus. Stating practice at four in the afternoon, we know we will hear the bell once at five and another time at six, then our practice is about to come to an end. Well, every time the clock would strike five and we heard those church bells rings five times in a row, most of us would dread the last hour of practice, except the one girl I mentioned before. She would always say after the bell rang, "one hour down!" This is way more grateful that what most of the other girls would say, "ugh, one more hour to go!" I feel like she was overall happier in that last hour because of her positive outlook on the situation.
Since it is the week of Thanksgiving, I think gratefulness is a wonderful topic to bring to light. We need to learn as a society how to be more grateful on a daily basis. We can't, for instance, just after reading this article change our mentality just for the day. Or just be grateful on Thanksgiving, because that's what we're told to do. No. Gratefulness needs to become a habit everyday, eventually turning into a lifestyle.

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Works Cited

Smith, Jeremy. "Six Habits of Highly Grateful People." Greater Good The Science of a Meaningful Life. Ed. Jason Marsh. N.p., 20 Nov. 2013. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. <http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/six_habits_of_highly_grateful_people>.

Mental Toughness #8

The question that Professor Barry proposed to us, "Do you think there is a higher purpose for your life?", is very hard to answer. It's hard to consider the overall purpose of your life, and be able to write it in a blog post. Professor Barry is basically asking the meaning for our existence, which is an extremely tough question.
Well, I would have to start by saying purposes of my life that are strictly school related. I would have to say my purpose or goal for myself is to get a good education and eventually get a job that I love. But that is all boring stuff.
My high school math teacher once asked our class, what defines us? Paraphrasing, he said, "if someone were to ask you who you were as a person, what would you say? I don't mean your name and what you do, I mean who you are?" He didn't our answer to be, for example, "my name is Tara Armstrong and I play soccer while attending Texas Lutheran". He wanted our answer to be more along the lines of, "my name is Tara Armstrong and I am a intelligent person and a thoughtful friend". This question stuck with me and the answer he wanted made me question what I would say.
I guess my purpose in life, and who I consider myself to be, is a leader and a friend. I pride myself on being a thoughtful, considerate person who will do anything for other people. I also take leadership and responsibility roles whenever I get the chance. Whether that be, organizing an event for my friends or taking control of a school project, I am never hesitant to take the lead.
If people were to be asked what they thought of me, I would hope they would say something along those lines. That I am an overall loving person that is intelligence and can act as a leader when need be. Not only do I hope they would say this, I'm pretty positive that is what they would say. What I leave behind as my legacy or purpose in life, will be my ability to help in any situation presented.

Mental Toughness #7

This week we are going to mention gratitude. Professor Barry looked into research by Dr. Robert Emmons at UC-Davis that suggested "consciously cultivating an attitude of gratitude builds up a sort of psychological immune system that can cushion us when we fall" ("How Gratitude Can Help..."). So I asked myself the question, what am I grateful for? For one, I am grateful for my health and waking up everyday. I am grateful for my family, my support system, always by my side. I am thankful for my friends I have at home and the new friends I have already grown so close with. I am thankful for my experiences and being able to explore my own life and create memories for myself. I am thankful that I am able to have a college career, some are not as lucky as I. I am especially thankful everyday for living the life I do.

Taking all of these gratitudes into consideration, I then question there helpfulness in my college life. I agree with Dr. Emmons that "grateful people are more resilient to stress, whether minor everyday hassles or major personal upheavals" ("How Gratitude Can Help..."). Whenever I am having a really stressful day, I remember all the good things in my life. I look to my family and friends for comfort. Whenever I am having an extremely tough day with classes, I just remember that I am lucky to even have this shot in college and I need to take advantage. Being grateful for what I have, versus dwelling on what I lack, gets me through everyday obstacles. 

I think it is important for everyone to try and be grateful for something everyday. It bothers me when everyone decides to finally take their gratitudes into consideration only one day a year, Thanksgiving. Most people will share their thoughts and gratitudes on that day, not realizing that they should be thankful for these things all the time.


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Works Cited: 

       Emmons, Robert. “How Gratitude Can Help You Through Hard Times.” Greater Good: the Science of a Meaningful Life. the Greater Good Science Center, UC-Berkeley, 12 Nov. 2013. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. <http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_stops_gratitude>.

Transitioning from High School to College #10

This week is my birthday week. My first birthday spent away from home. It is strange not going home after school and not seeing surprises from my parents waiting for me at home. Also, missing out on my favorite meal of tri-tip and mashed potatoes. There are a lot of things I miss at home, but I especially miss home cooked meals. I may have mentioned this somewhere in one of my previous blogs, but it is amazing how much a home cooked meal means when all you eat is the school cafeteria food. Healthy habits are hard to maintain when you have limited choices everyday.
Another thing that I miss a lot from back home is my dog. I have had the same dog for the past nine years now, and it is so strange not waking up to her every morning. I plan to go home at Thanksgiving, and so most times I get on the phone with my parents they tell me how excited they are to see me. I respond to my dad every single time, "I miss you, but I miss Hershey more." He laughs, but I think he's realized I'm not really joking! My biggest fear, though, is that she won't recognize me when I come back home. I know that is highly unlikely but it's still a worry of mine. Especially since when my sister went home to visit, my dog chose not to pay attention to her; ignoring her completely like she was mad.
One thing that has been running through my head all week is also the possibility of me not being able to go home for Thanksgiving. As an athletic trainer, we have the responsibility to stay on campus when the football team is on campus. With them doing so well this season, they have the chance of making playoffs, which mean they would stay here practicing over Thanksgiving break. I really want them to continue doing well and hopefully make playoffs, but another part of me really wants to go home. I haven't been home in awhile and I miss being in California. It will be a sticky situation to have to deal with. Part of me wants them to move on in the football season, and another part of me does not.

Transitioning from High School to College #9

This week is an important week in my college journey. Both my parents are coming to visit and I couldn't be more excited! I haven't had a chance to see my mom since she first dropped me off at college, and I can honestly say I miss her so much more than I imagined possible. Talking to your parents over the phone is definitely not the same as seeing them in person.
This weekend is definitely going to be an exciting time for me. They get to come watch two of my soccer games and then we are heading to San Antonio on Saturday for the day. Here is an overall recap of our weekend that took place. First, they flew in on Thursday and I was able to hang out with them after soccer practice and grab something to eat. Friday, they came to watch us play during the afternoon. Unfortunately, we lost our game on Friday but I was still honored that they were able to watch me play. After the game, we went out to dinner and got some Texas Barbecue. Compared to California, the barbecue places here are substantially better so my parents love to get that when they come to visit. On Saturday, we took a day trip to San Antonio. We were able to go to the river walk and spend the whole day exploring the number two highest tourist spot in Texas. I had never been to the river walk before, and neither had my parents, so it was definitely a treat. I loved spending the day with my parents, since I have not been able to do that for a really long time. Sunday was their last day in town, and so they came to watch another one of my soccer games. A little after the game, they had to leave to the airport. It was so sad to have to say goodbye to them again, but I only have to wait another month before I see them again. I am just so blessed that I am able to see my parents still other than on school vacations. I know a lot of other kids who leave home to go far away for college, have to wait multiple months at a time to see any members of their family. 

Transitioning from High School to College #8

This week was the week of our mid-semester break. I was unaware that any college gave students a random mid semester break, but I found it to come at the perfect time! College is a stressful place and it is helpful to have a break every once in awhile. If they had not given us this break, we wouldn't have one until Thanksgiving.
Since it was mid-semester break, campus was cleared out. Most people went home for the four days we had off. That is sometimes the strangest part of living so far away. You don't have anywhere to go on the weekend, like the rest of the people do. It is sometimes depressing because campus can get pretty boring over the weekend. That is when I am so thankful that I was able to get a roommate that is also from California. We are always stuck in the same boat.
I may not have been able to go home, but I stayed busy with soccer over the entire break. We traveled to Dallas and Houston over the break. Dallas was a good trip that turned ugly in the end. Our bus ended up running out of gas and we were stranded at University of Dallas for about five hours. We ended up having to call in favors to get us switched to a different bus that could get us home. Eventually, we started heading back around midnight and didn't get back to campus until five in the morning. It was quite a night and I am really thankful we had a good win over University of Dallas, otherwise being stranded with our coach for that long could have been a nightmare. Overall it was a rough night, but it will be a trip that I will always remember.
Luckily, our trip to Houston was a lot more pleasant. We ended up winning a huge game and came off of the weekend 2-0. It was definitely a weekend that will stick in my memory, that is for sure.
I was disappointed at first that soccer was going to consume my whole break, but then I realized I would have gotten bored over the break if it wasn't for soccer.

Transitioning from High School to College #7

This week has been pretty relaxed, compared to other weeks. I still have my hectic schedule, but I have grown pretty accustomed to it over the past two months.
One major event that happened this week, was getting my first college essay returned to me. Before our Professor handed them back she mentioned that a few of us received sixty percents because we did not internally site sources correctly. Heart-racing, I had my essay in hand. To my excitement, I was able to earn an eighty-five percent on my first essay of the year. I have never been a super great writer, and I consistently got Bs on my essays in high school. As you may guess, that surprised me tremendously when I got a B on a college essay. I would think that college writing would be harder, and I think in some ways it is. The length of the essay was somewhat difficult for me to manage. Granted, I did expect to get assigned an awful ten page paper like the first week in school. Luckily, that was not the case. I guess you could say writing in college is still pretty difficult, just not as awful as I anticipated.
Other than that, the only other event that took place this week was my second freshman module. We are required to take four modules over the course of our time at TLU, and the freshman module is mandantory for graduation requirements. This week in our module we went over our CEP plans, which are designed as a template for our four year schedule. It was a struggle having to pick all my own classes and being responsible for deciding what I am going to take every semester I am here. Working on these plans just reiterate our freedom of choices we have in college, and the ability to do what we want. We're now adults, who have to decide on our own.
It will be hard to register for classes on my own. As freshman, our first semester was pretty much put together by our advisors, so we didn't have to do that on our own. It will be interesting to see how I manage that on my own.

Transitioning for High School to College #6

Home-sickness. A feeling that is hard to describe but easy to understand. One that is finally starting to sink in at about the two month mark that I have been away at college.
The root behind my feeling of home-sickness mainly involves my friends from back home. Talking to one of my friends over the phone the other day, I realized how much I was missing out on. She starting to tell me about a trip she was about to take with one of her friends. A friend that I had never met or didn't even hear about before that moment. It just hit me like a truck, and thoughts started rushing through my head. How many other things am I missing out on? I am not even clued in to my best friends' life anymore, a realization that made me incredibly sad.
I am still lucky to say though that that has been the only major incidence that I have faced with home-sickness. Other than that, I have stayed relatively sane in adjusting to leaving home.
I have made incredible friends already. Two major friends of mine include my roommate and suite mate. We are actually so close, the three of us, that when we are apart for more than a couple hours we almost hit the point of separation anxiety. I find it so funny that we only met a little over a month ago and now we can't get enough of each other.
I guess another thing I can say I am thankful for then is that I was paired up with such wonderful girls. I have heard numerous stories of other people on campus that have an intense hatred for the roommate that they were designated with. So far, I have no complaints about who I share my dorm with.
I feel like doing these blogs every week help me put my feelings into words about my excitement journey of college life. It has already been an exciting adventure and I couldn't have expected anything better.

Mental Toughness #6

George Washington Carver, the inventor of peanut butter first found 300 other uses for peanuts. It wasn't until he founded peanut butter, however, that one was majorly successful. Looking at his mistakes as positives: George Carver did not fail at making peanut butter, he just found 300 ways not to make it.
Mistakes are what make us who we are. It is our mistakes that allow us to grow as human beings and become stronger.
One keynote speaker during the TLU convention, was Tony Wagner. One of his keys to education was "Trial and Error vs. Risk Avoidance". Basically acknowledging the importance of trying and failing versus not trying at all.
One of the keys in any athletic game is to never give up. No matter what you do wrong, or how far behind you may be, the key is to never give up. Coaches will always preach the importance of that point. Another point coaches often make is to never make the same mistake twice. After making a mistake, it is vital to shake it off and get right back into the game, not letting it happen again. I have realized one thing about myself over the many years of playing sports. I learn better when I first make a mistake. If I have a bad play, it makes me focus on what I did wrong, then I learn how to correct it and make myself better. If I continuously made okay passes over and over again I would never improve my skills.
Mistakes are not failures. Mistakes are just opportunities to learn different ways not to do something. We all just need to take advantage of our mistakes. The key is not to dwell on the past or mistakes, but learn from them and move on.

Transitioning from High School to College #5

I have now turned in my first college essay and taken my first college exam. I have experienced my first extremely late night studying. I now feel like a real college student.
The workload is difficult and I now see the major differences between high school and college classes. First when I got to college, advisers told me that for every hour spent in class, students will need to study two-three hours outside of class to earn a solid grade. They weren't kidding. I feel like I spend a lot of my time studying and I haven't yet earned an A on any of my exams. Honestly though, I don't know how to fit more studying into my schedule. Twenty four hours in a day do not seem to cut it nowadays. With classes, athletic training, soccer, homework, some social time to keep sane, and trying to balance sleep in the mix; I don't know how to throw more studying in the mix without cutting something out. I already feel as if I am lacking sleep already, I don't know how much longer I can stay up into the wee hours of the morning working on school work.
That's another change from high school to college. Bedtime; there is none. Since there are no parents, there is no more set curfew. This new sense of freedom has consequences attached. I tend to stay up a lot later than I should and it's starting to cause a lack of sleep on my end. I tend to take more naps throughout the day to make up for the shortage of sleep at night. It is super convenient to have my "house" on campus. Allowing me the ability of taking a twenty minute power nap in between a couple classes. I find it funny how much I enjoy napping now. We start off our education journey in preschool, where naps were a constant reward. How ironic is it that at the highest level, naps are still a luxury that most students love and appreciate.
I can sense that college will be a challenge. Acclimatizing myself to my surroundings and finding a way to balance all my workload without becoming utterly overwhelmed. It will be an ongoing battle that I will have to work through.

Mental Toughness #5

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you have to keep moving." In my opinion, this relates to the college journey. I actually included this quote in my FREX project that I had to complete over the summer before entering my freshman year. It stuck deep with me when I first came across it. Like Professor Barry mentioned in her interpretation of success, the journey is just as important as the final result.
Say you wanted to make a bird house. You need all sorts of components to come up with a successful birdhouse. Wood of course, nails, a hammer, and some paint. These may seem insignificant individually, but together they create wonders.
Think of college as this birdhouse. Wood being all of the classes each student has to take. Nails being books and supplies. Hammer being the professors and doctors. Paint being extracurricular activities. They all work hand in hand to result in a college degree. The final achievement that makes the countless hours of college and all the troubled components worth it.
I think it is important to be appreciative of all the little moments that happen, not only through the college experience, but throughout all of life. Take advantage of every opportunity. Be proud for getting all your homework done regularly or getting a good grade on a quiz or test. All of these things get you one step closer to your goal. At the end of the college journey, I am sure no student remembers every day of their experience. However, in the moment, do not look at the day to day tasks as burdens but accomplishments. They all are important and useful in the end. Without wood, how would a birdhouse have structure? Without nails, how would a birdhouse stay together? Without a hammer, how would a birdhouse get put together? Without paint, how would a birdhouse gain character? All things to think about.

Transitioning from High School to College #4

Week number six in college. Day number 43. Friendships are forming. Grades are starting to accumulate. Dorms are starting to feel more like home. The transition has been relatively smooth thus far. I am very lucky that I haven't had an extremely rough time adjusting to the new college life. Sure, it has definitely been a change but most of it I was prepared for.
I now have a close circle of friends that I mainly associate myself with, but I would like to broaden my circle. Socialize with more than a few groups of people. From day one, I was introduced to two groups. My athletic training and soccer families. Which also led me to meet a majority of the athletes on campus. I have hung around athletes my whole life, so it would be nice to explore new groups and get to know more people and their interests. I want to take advantage of the diversity on campus and familiarize myself with all of the social groups on campus. This is one goal that I hope to stick with over the next four years.
More and more things are starting to remind me of home. I don't believe that I have gotten the cliche home-sickness disease yet, however, certain foods or television shows. There have been other examples of reminders of home-life, but I am unable to think of them at the moment. However, watching a television show in my room that I used to watch at home with my family makes me miss just lounging around at home. Also, my mom makes this wonderful treat called apple salad and I actually was able to eat it at a restaurant I went to today. She would make this as a side to take to many family parties and gatherings, so it sparks memories from those events. I do miss my family, but I am so glad I have had the opportunity to go out on my own and explore the world by myself. Making my own mistakes, and learning from the consequences.

Mental Toughness #4

Confidence. A trait that can not be inflicted on a person, but has to be worked at on your own. You can not wake up one morning and be confident. It's an ongoing battle of errors and successes that makes a person confident in their own abilities. I consider myself to be a somewhat confident person. Able to trust myself in getting a task done, and knowing that I can do anything I set my mind too. Sometimes, however, I doubt myself. As I'm sure everyone else in the world has done as well at one point or another.
In order to remain confident with the knowledge I possess, I have to look back on all my past achievements. Which directly relates to what Professor Barry said in regards to reminding yourself that you are capable. College is a challenging journey. So far, I have already noticed the intensity of homework assignments, the difficulty of tests, and the time consuming nature of studying. All that take determination to achieve. Throughout high school I was easily able to maintain a 4.0 grade point average. Based off of the first couple weeks in college, I am unsure if I'll be able to keep up the same grades. However, if I stick to recalling past achievements.. I can coach myself in doing the same thing in college that I did in high school. If I tell myself things like "you have done well in school for your whole existence", "work hard, and success will come", and "you are smart, you have the knowledge you need" I should be able to get the grades I want and achieve in college.
The main component of confidence that I need to focus on, is to not get down on myself on one bad test grade. Failures fuel success. They are the driving factors behind achievements. I need to remember to not look at my mistakes in a bad fashion, but to view them as lessons to learning ways to succeed. The ability to succeed lies within me, and my confidence level just needs to work on bringing it out.

Transitioning from High School to College #3

I have now been away at college for about a month now, and I will say that it has become easier as the time goes on. Getting use to the classes and balancing my school load with my extra-curricular activities has grown to be not as terrifying of a task. We were assigned these blogs as part of our Comp 131 class to expand our writing skills. Every one has their own interpretation of what a blog is supposed to include, but my personal definition of a blog is a place to journal events. So, I want to not only take advantage of these assignments as a way to become a better writer, but also as a way to log the ins and outs of my college experience thus far. A place where I can express my true feelings about my new life in the college atmosphere. Well, let's start with this week. This week was actually pretty spectacular, since my dad got to come visit me from California. He was able to stay for about three days and watch a couple of my soccer games on campus. It was such a great feeling to have my dad here in Texas with me; being able to go out to breakfast, lunch or dinner with him and catch up on some quality time we have both missed out on. I'll be honest. I have been so busy over the past month at college, that I haven't really had the chance to become home-sick quite yet. Good, right? I think so. But I kind of feel guilty that I don't miss back home as much as I thought I would. Well, that mentality changed when I saw my dad. Seeing him again made me miss him that much more, and having to say goodbye again was that much harder. I am looking forward to the next chance I'll have to go back home and see the rest of my family and friends, but I know that the time I spend with them will make me miss them so much more when I return to Texas. Picking a far away school was a tough decision. However, I think if I would have picked a school closer to my house I would become that much more home-sick. I would constantly be going home on the weekends, and that would lead me to become home-sick more often. It was bittersweet seeing my dad again, because leaving was rough; but that is a big change that I will have to become accustomed too while I am at college.

Mental Toughness #3

After reading about Terry Orlick and his "distraction control plan", I realized all of the distractions I have while studying or doing any activity. For one, my cellular device, my iPhone. An iPhone is a pretty neat tools, and it houses everything in the world that could be on a list of distractions. One being social networks. FaceBook, Instagram, Twitter; all of which are very entertaining and highly distractive. Next, communication with family and friends. When I can hear my phone vibrate from a text message or phone call, I get sidetracked. Besides my cell phone, another distraction is food. Might sound silly, but when I get hungry while studying, it can be extremely distracting. Also, since I have come to college and I have constant access to friends just right down the hall, in person contact can definitely take away from my focus. The hard part is finding a solution, however, it can be handled. Testing out Orlick's "distraction control plan", I gave myself some goals. First, while working on homework I need to have my phone set away from me at all times that way it cannot control my focus. Next, let my friends know that I can only hang out after I get my homework done or tell them they can do homework with me as a "study group" sort of set-up. These sound relatively boring and straight forward. What is a way to spice things up? Rewards! Splitting homework/study time into sections and treating yourself with a reward after each one. My personal rewards will most likely be some sort of food treat if I'm hungry or getting to use my phone for a period of time after each section. Putting it to the test: tonight while completing my blogs and other homework I chose to test the control plan. I was pretty successful in most aspects of staying focused. I stashed my phone away and didn't look at it once while working and I treated myself with some cookies after I finished my Anatomy homework. One part in which I lacked focus; when my friends came around. We all had homework to do, so you would think we would remain focused. All of us, besides one. One of my friends would not stop talking. I tried my best to tune her out, but it was difficult at times. However, the "distraction control plan" helped me get through the majority of my homework with efficiency and ease.

Transitioning from High School to College #2

A day in the life of a college student. A feeling that I've wanted for so long and yearned for all through high school. Graduating high school brought me one step closer to achieving my dream of going to a four year college institution. Now that I am here, I feel nothing but excitement. I've already mentioned some of the differences between high school and college in my previous blog post. College presents new experiences, new obstacles, and new intelligence. All of which, I am utterly excited for. Focused on the more social aspect, it is a strange feeling to once again not know anyone around you. Coming to college, I knew absolutely no one. Except for the slight communication I had with my roommate prior to coming to TLU. Just like when starting elementary school, you feel like a stranger in your own environment. An alien in your own skin. Having to deal with the process of building new friendships and relationships with complete strangers. Especially for me, I get the same set of questions when I meet a new person. "You're from California?" "Why did you come to TLU?" "What's your major?" "What grade are you in?" Over and over and over again. Slowly gaining trust with new people and starting to acquire what are hopefully lifelong friendships. I find it funny all the small-talk conversations I have had with so many people, because I forgot what's it's like to interact for the first time meeting. I am thankful, however, that I was able to attend a small university because I love how close everyone is and the loving atmosphere it creates. I learn new things about college everyday and I am soaking in every single moment of it all. It will remain a strange world until I get accustomed to all the changes, but I still can't believe I'm finally here. I'm proud of myself for picking up my entire life and moving to an unfamiliar state without knowing anyone around. College will be good for my personal growth. I am so thrilled for the next four years and all the amazing adventures that college will present, unlike high school ever could.

Mental Toughness #2

Based off of Angela Duckworth's studies of success, there are two key factors to succeeding: passion and perseverance, which she refers to as grit ("The Keys to Success?"). To me, passion and perseverance are very important in one's drive to want to succeed. Having these two components, someone could achieve anything they set their mind to. Your question for us students, however, is how do you think passion and perseverance will help you in college? Well, first I will deal with passion. In college you have the ability to choose your major, and the classes you will take all four years. Being in this control, students should be able to pick something they really love doing- whether that is in the arts, sciences, social sciences, mathematics, or communications departments. If students choose something they really have a passion in, that will drive them to a higher success rate. Now, I am going to focus in on perseverance. Perseverance cannot be taught. It cannot be a lesson in the classroom. It is learned over trial periods of experimenting and failing. Grasping the idea, that failure is inevitable most of the time and you have to try and try again until you accomplish your goal. Both passion and perseverance are clearly evident in a college setting. On a more personal basis, there are ways that passion and perseverance will help me succeed in college. First off, I chose a major that I am extremely interested in. Athletic training is what I want to do in life, and I know right off that I will need a college degree to become an athletic trainer. This will force me to pass all my classes and do all my homework, because without certain pre-requisites I know that I will not fulfill my dream of becoming an athletic trainer. Next, perseverance. Perseverance is an everyday battle. Specific to my major, I have had many attempts at the perfect ankle taping without success. However, I kept trying until I got it right. Staying focused on my passion and remaining persevered in my actions, I will be successful in college.

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Works Cited

Duckworth, Angela. The key to success? Grit. TED. TED conferences LLC, May 2013. Web. 3 Sept. 2013. <http://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_the_key_to_success_grit.html>.

Transitioning from High School to College

So far there are many differences between high school and college, and I'm sure there are more that I have not yet discovered. For starters, moving away from home is a huge transition. Being thirteen-hundred miles away from my family can be unsettling at times. Our only form of communication being over the phone contact. A strange feeling when your parents don't have constant watch over your decisions. Having to grocery shop by myself and for myself. Relying on only my alarm clock to wake me up in the morning. All things that I can manage, but still different all the same. "Living on my own" has been and will remain one of the biggest transitions from high school to college. 

Also, I have noticed the classes are extremely different. Professors not always telling you homework that is due the next class, having you always referring to the syllabus, and having to constantly read and re-read all the textbooks. It was to be expected when I entered college that the workload would get heavier, but it'll take some getting used too. Being held accountable for every one of your own actions, makes it vital to not procrastinate.

Time management is another big transition. In high school, I was able to balance soccer, basketball, school and time for family and friends. In college, it is proving to be a lot harder. With soccer, athletic training and classes, it will be difficult to find a good balance between all that and finding time to study. Trying to follow the rule- "study 2-3 hours for every 1 hour you are in class" will be a huge challenge. Once I get accustomed to all of these changes, I can enjoy every second of my college experience. I am so excited of my decision to come to TLU thus far. The transition may take some getting used too, but college is a time to work through challenges and transform into the person you want to be. 

Mental Toughness- Train Write

To me, "mental toughness" means pushing through aches and pains when one is physically exhausted. When one feels like their body can no longer function, and they have to use their inner drive to succeed. As an athlete, I have faced many accounts of mental toughness. Playing soccer for the past fourteen years, I know what it's like to be tired and want to give up. My legs feel like weights dragging across the ground, but I find a way to push through. I always tend to tell myself "you're not tired- you can run longer, sprint faster, push harder". It can be extremely difficult at times, but that is exactly why it is called mental "toughness". I have a really good understanding of mental toughness since I am an athlete, but there are many other situations in which you have to know what it means. For example, say it's finals time- you have already studied for most of your classes but you're not quite done. It's getting to be pretty late in the evening and you want to call quits, knowing that you still have to study for a couple more classes. As a student, one has to be mentally tough and push through being exhausted to study for those last finals. Being an athlete may have introduced mental toughness to me, but you don't have to be an athlete to know the importance of a mental game. You just have to think of a time when you wanted to quite and then didn't because a voice in your head told you not to. In the end, you know you made the right choice of sticking with whatever task you were undertaking. That is mental toughness.