Even though I already have two college degrees (B.S. Secondary Education and B.A. History) and work full-time as an administrative associate in the Department of History at Ohio State, I often ask myself: “Who am I? Who do I want to become?” I have tried many careers: I have been a clerk in a law firm; I was a registered sales assistant at a stock brokerage firm; I worked in IT; I worked in the Arts; I worked in the fashion industry; and, I have even dealt blackjack for a living. I think the reason I have had so many vocations is that I am interested in learning…everything. My intrinsic curiosity, combined with a deep longing to “find myself” has propelled me through life. It may sound simple, but I am very happy doing what I am doing now (being an administrative assistant), surrounded by smart people (professors and staff), having a tremendous amount of resources at my disposal (Ohio State libraries and courses), and pursuing what I really want, which is to be a good human being. As I get older (I am nearly fifty), it does get harder to keep up, though. Technology has become an integral part of society, and I don’t want to get left behind.
Primarily, I want to exercise my mind. I want to keep it in good working order. I want to delay the “aging” process. One way I can do that is by taking college courses. Because I work a full-time job, most, if not all, of the courses I take will be online, and I don’t want to feel intimidated. One way I plan to overcome this particular challenge is by taking this course. The “three Ds” of motivation – drive, discipline, and determination (Cuseo. 2010, p. 52) will be vital to my success. By mastering the material covered in ESETEC 2011, I will have more confidence when I enroll in other classes at Ohio State so that I may continue my mission to constantly learn new things and “exercise my mind.”
I have taken many self-assessments in the past, so I don’t think I learned anything new from the Week 2 Self-Assessment. I am not taking college courses to get a job, obtain a better salary, or to prove something to my parents. Before taking the assessment, I knew I was self-motivated. One category that was surprising to me, though, was “Learning Strategies.” I noticed that my “Deep Strategies” and “Surface Strategies” scores were fairly close. I thought my score for deep strategies would have been a lot lower. My score for “Collaboration” indicates that I can work in well in a group, and I can, but I really do prefer to work independently.
Source:
Cuseo, J. (2010). Chapter 2 Goal Setting, Motivation, and Character. In Thriving in the community college and beyond: Strategies for academic success and personal development (pp. 39-62). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Pub.