Continuing Education Essay

Giovanny Garcia

GEN/201

Mrs. Amanda Lutz

August 10, 2014

Continuing Academic Success

The older I get, the more I realize how important it is to get an education. I see people that spend years of their life dedicated to a company that doesn’t even interest them one bit. To management, employees are recyclable, as long as their operation is running properly they can care less about who they have to fire. This led me think about what it is I really wanted to do with my life and how I would want to potentially spend it. I knew that I did not want to end up like those unhappy men I had met during my first couple of jobs, that is not what life is about. I began to brainstorm my future and created a plan that I would follow to ultimately obtain a degree in psychology. This decision came after a major injury that occurred in March, just about five months ago. I wasn’t aware of the emotional trauma that comes with a major injury and found myself talking to a counselor once a week. I was amazed to find out that those therapy sessions had actually helped me get over some of the negative emotions, and I knew right away that my life would be dedicated to helping people. Now I’m here, a student of the University of Phoenix, who will have his bachelor’s degree in psychology in less than two years. I couldn’t be more ready. I was definitely aware that we would be taking an intro class at the start, but didn’t expect to learn as much as I did in these short five weeks. I can honestly say that most of what we learned will be used throughout my whole life, for the information can be applied to any situation. Strategies such as goal setting, thinking and writing processes, and the ethical lens inventory will benefit my success in and out of the workplace.

        Preparation is key. I didn’t realize that effective planning and goal setting could play such an important role in achieving success. Students who graduate from high school with a mindset that includes the importance of setting goals and assessing progress will be prepared to meet future educational and life choices (Anderman, 2009). For example, when faced with a complicated situation, some people tend to be put off by its intimidation and fear they will not be able to conquer it. By breaking it down and analyzing it, one will find that it can be completed at a much less intimidating pace. Looking back, I can now see that a lot of my poor test results were simply because of poor planning and poor goal setting. I would wait until the last minute to study, or forget about homework, and would even be satisfied with barely passing grades. If I would’ve just aimed for something a little higher, the results might’ve been different. Another thing I leaned about was how to properly give a presentation. I have always struggled with this for years, and the problem even goes even outside of school. Little things like eye contact, voice projection, and knowing your audience can make a big impact on your overall grade. The problem with me is that I was speaking too low and too awkwardly that it would dent my overall presentation, even though I touched on all the topics. I must keep in mind what Thody says,  “The ‘character’ can speak what the researcher may not wish to risk.” (Thody, 2006). The good thing is, it’s never too late to put these practices to use. I will use this knowledge to help achieve a career, and educational goal I have set for myself. My educational goal is exceed the GPA I had in high school, for I wasn’t really too proud of it. I didn’t apply myself like I should have, and it showed. I just never took school seriously and like many kids, gave into all the distractions one could face at that age. As for my career goes, one goal that I have is to be in a position where I can help people, emotionally or physically. I would specifically like to be an emotional counselor for patients that have gone through traumatic experiences and hardships, it would be much more relatable.