...Continuing Academic Success Continuing academic success goes further than just being in good standing within a university, or showing adequate progress towards a degree. It also includes creating your own goals that you need to work towards while continuing your education. Whether those goals are purely academically based or those goals pertain to what you want from your schooling to better your career and life, that decision is up to you. In the following paper I will share with you my own personal struggles with continuing my academic success, and the resources I used from my first course at the University of Phoenix to overcome those struggles. My Setbacks with Continuing Academic Success When I started the long journey of returning back to school I had many fears running through my head that made me feel that I may fail on this path of bettering myself. I had a fear of reading. Now that may sound strange, but I have always found focusing on reading a book challenging. I could read the words, and most of the times understand them, but my attention to the book would always drift. I had fears of staying on task and completing assignments on time. I felt that my life may be too busy to go back to school. I’ve always had the fear of writing papers. I’ve prided myself on being able to speak well and sound educated, but to actually sit down and write a professional paper scared me and made me feel ignorant towards a basic step in the academic process. In the past I have also...
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...Continuing Academic Success GEN/201 Continuing Academic Success Achieving success is something that many consider to be difficult, sometimes too difficult to be worth even trying. But there are many tools and processes available to help people be successful. By knowing what these tools and processes are, students are able to achieve not only academic success, but also be successful in many other areas of their lives. Setting goals is an important step in achieving success. By recognizing your goals, a person is able to comprehend what is truly important to them. Setting specific goals, rather than general goals, encourages people to work harder to obtain their goals. A few important factors in setting goals include tracking progress, goal importance, complexity of the goal, and commitment (Locke & Latham, 2006). In order to reach your goal, you must first ascertain whether that goal is realistic and achievable. Once you have established this, the next step is to formulate a plan with clear and consistent steps to help you reach your goal. The steps in the plan not only guide you down the path, but also provide encouragement to continue working toward goal achievement as each step is completed. The goals that you set can be in any area of life, including educational and career goals. For example, one educational goal for myself is to maintain no less than a B average in each of my courses. Of course, I would love to maintain an A average, but that goal is not as realistic...
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...Continuing Academic Success Richard E. Garcia GEN/201 (BSGU1G4422) 4/6/2015 Jeremy NeVille Continuing Academic Success Academic success begins with knowing what you want to achieve and who you want to become. Going back to school after a long time can be frightening and intimidating however we are all capable of success by utilizing our strengths and being aware of our weaknesses. We have many skills that we can use to aid in learning that we have developed though everyday life. There are methods to learning that if used correctly can greatly increase the chances for success such as making future goals. The ability to think critically is essential to becoming a good student. By having good critical thinking skills you will produce great schoolwork and make better choices. The University of Phoenix has a vast amount of resources to aid in student learning. There are strategies to learning and tools to be explored at the university library and writing center. While everyone has different learning styles, establishing educational goals, exploring university resources, employing academic integrity, and developing excellent critical thinking skills leads to academic success. In order to be successful educational goals must be established. Koch and Nafziger (2011) believed that goals affect people’s perceptions of the future. Having goals keeps you on track and makes it clear what it takes to achieve them. According...
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...Continuing Academic Success Sheri Coleman GEN/201 August 18, 2014 Lindsey Rudolph, Professor Continuing Academic Success According to Curran and Reivich (2011) “How does goal setting increase performance, achievement, and ultimately well-being” (p. 44)? In my opinion, academic success should be included in one’s model for achieving one’s career goals. While some believe continuing academic success is not required to obtain one's ultimate career goal, academic success is achieved by setting goals, fusing one’s learning style with lessons being taught, applying critical thinking skills and utilizing all available resources. During this first course of continuing my education, I’ve learned the tools necessary to become academically successful as well starting on the path to a successful career. Goal Setting Setting goals, leads to success because there’s a plan being put into motion. According to Lock & Latham 2002, “Research indicates that when an individual sets a goal that individual shows increased direct physical effort, cognitive effort on repeated task, self-reported subjective effort, and physiological indicators of effort” (p.44). Choosing the online course to continue my education allows me to move at my own pace. Setting goals is directive; goals reveal the path in which I need to follow. All of these actions lead to positive outcomes. (Curran & Reivich 2011, Lock & Latham 2002, Locke & Bryan 1969). Smaller and easier to attain...
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...Continuing Academic Success Christina Lambert GEN/201 12/09/14 Maureen Parker Continuing Academic Success Academic success is achieved by setting goals, applying critical thinking skills, using ethical behavior, and utilizing all available resources. Everyone’s career goals should include academic success, as it is necessary to move forward in your career and achieve your life goals. By setting goals students will be able to better motivate themselves to succeed in school and with their career. During my first few assignments, I have learned a lot about the tools necessary to become successful as well as how to apply them to my everyday life. Setting goals was able to help me as I now have a clear expectation of what I want to accomplish and how to get it done with maximum efficiency. I want to be able to advance my education by passing all my classes and move forward in my job to be a store manager. By setting goals for myself for school I was able to complete all of my assignments on time, and make sure I gave the best quality work I could. I have taken what I have learned from my classes and also used it in my workplace, as the writing process was able to teach me how to write my reviews better and communicate more efficiently with my coworkers. In order to accomplish this I used my critical thinking skills that I learned early on. Critical Thinking Critical thinking is the process we can use to determine whether or not something is right or wrong. By being...
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...Continuing Academic Success XXX GEN/201 XXX XXX Continuing Academic Success Going back to school can be a very difficult decision. There are many factors that can determine the decision to go back to school such as finances, career growth, looking for a better job, or to fulfill personal goals. That made me think about the reasons why I was going back to school. I think for most students, why one would want to return to school is an easy question to answer. After much thought, the important question is not why I was going back to school but how I was going to finish it. I needed to evaluate the reasons why I did not complete school and narrow down the key factors that will make me successful this time around. The variables for academic success are different from student to student, but some of the key factors for all students are goal setting, time management, and academic integrity. Goal Setting Goals are essential to any type of success. Goals serve as a directive and energizing function. It affects the persistence of participants and affects action by leading to arousal and discovery (Locke & Latham, 2002). Goals will keep someone motivated, focused, and provides a sense of direction necessary for academic success. However, simply creating goals will not lead to academic success. During my early academic career, my lack of goal setting led to academic failure. It was difficult for me to achieve my goals without having a clear understanding of what I was trying...
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...Continuing Academic Success When looking at continuing academic success one must make several critical decisions; chose if continuing going to school is the right choice for them. Most of the time when people come to that decision, they come to realize several things. That it is important to continue academic success because it helps you set goals for your academic success, helps you strengthen your learning style, and there are so many sources out there to help you succeed. When one makes that first step in continuing their academic success; it becomes clearer and clearer how important it is to further yourself in academic success. One can benefit so much from going back to school or even just continuing any academic journey. The major benefit of continuing academic success would have to be just making a person stand out more than their peers; like a company choosing to promote one person over the other because they have a certain degree in the field of that industry they work in. Furthermore, if a company was hiring a limited amount of personal and they only choose the people that had a degree or were attending school to further their education. Those people that chose to continue their education would get hired. Also, consider the more education you have, the more money you will make. However, most people will be tested ethically, and they will learn true academic integrity as well. Consider this if one continues academic success they will benefit from learning how other...
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...Continuing Academic Success GEN/201 Dec 15, 2014 Aimee Styers Continuing Academic Success Developing Academic success that will follow you throughout your life starts with planning, understanding your learning style, developing an effective writing and critical thinking process. As I begin my continuing education, continuing academic success is what I want, not only in my academic accomplishments but in all that I do at home and at work. So what is success, in its simplest form it is accomplishing or achieving what you desire or set as a goal. Then academic success is achieving or obtaining that degree and continuing academic success is the process of taking what you learn at school out into everyday life and your job. For me success is taking control of my education, abilities and skills to help me achieve my goals. Before I can do this I must establish a plan and define my goal or goals. So how do I reach this goal? That is a question many of us face, in many aspects of life. In reaching a goal it must first be defined and measureable. Effective goal setting is a key to success in whatever you do. According to (Morisano, Hirsh, Peterson, Pihl, & Shore, 2010), failure to have clear goals has led to students dropping out of college. When establishing a goal, an important question to ask is, why. Not knowing why you desire a goal will lead to a good chance of losing direction and site of the goal. Resulting in either the goal being delayed or worst, never...
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...Continuing Academic Success Mehgan Matherne GEN/200 April 27, 2015 Rick Guliuzza Continuing Academic Success In order for one to fully achieve greatness and success, they must understand how to apply different strategies throughout their life that they learned during their academic career. One must take personal responsibility for their success in their education and career because you are your biggest contributor to your success. You can attain success by understanding who you are, how you learn, and how to utilize the many resources available to you. One of the most necessary tools to conquer is the process of setting goals. It’s not just necessary to set goals, but you must also understand why you are setting them. I want to earn my Bachelor’s Degree in Health Administration by November 2017. I have worked in the healthcare industry since I was 18 years old; however, I never enjoyed the clinical side of the business. As for my career, I want to work in Healthcare Administration at Ochsner Pediatrics Office. My husband had brain surgery in February 2012 at Ochsner, and the entire staff was fantastic. I want to work in the Pediatrics' department because I became a Certified Medical Administrative Assistant in February 2015 and completed my internship at a local pediatrician’s office. I found much self-gratification in working with children because I was able to assist financially strained families by finding them affordable insurance. Setting goals maps out...
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...Continuing Academic Success Even though it is so easy to procrastinate and put things off until the last minute, academic success is the key to achieving educational and career goals. Having a solid understanding of the writing process and knowing your learning style will help you continue your achieve your academic goals. With these tools and exercising integrity, you will get the most out of your education while continuing to succeed. In order to achieve academic success, you must set your ultimate goal that you want to complete. My ultimate goal is to graduate with a bachelor's degree in business with a concentration in project management so I can pursue my career in project management. Setting your ultimate goal isn’t enough; you need to then break that goal down into smaller more easily attainable goals. There are other resources that can help you to reach your goals like academic coaching. Academic coaching can be a crucial step in helping students transition to college by providing a one-on-one interaction with a student focusing on academic planning, and performance. The coach encourages students to reflect on strengths related to their academics and works with the student to try new study strategies. The coach serves as a constant resource for the student to reconnect with throughout their college career (Robinson and Gahagan 2010). Academic representatives and success coaches will make great academic coaches because they will be with you for the duration of your academic...
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...Continuing Academic Success Sylvia Hayes Gen/201 - Foundations for University Success February 9, 2015 Jason Decremer Continuing Academic Success There were so many fears that held me back from going back to school. The cost, time, the fear of failure all played a part in me putting off making such a big decision in my life. Being that I am also married and together we have a 3 year old boy makes the situation even more difficult. Being a mom, wife and working a full-time job is a lot of responsibility and to add one more task to the pile was really pushing it. After much thought and talking to my husband I made the decision to attend University of Phoenix. Going back to school wasn’t an easy decision for me, but setting academic and career goals for myself while also keeping my motivation in mind at all times will help me through this journey. While attending school I have made a conscious decision to be enrolled in school non-stop with no breaks in-between until I graduate. I calculated that I will be enrolled in school for 3 straight years. Setting this specific goal for myself will guide me to success. The fact that I am optimistic and open-minded will ease me through this process. According to Bressler, Bressler, and Bressler (2010) “Optimism many times will be a significant contributor for behavior and can motivate individuals to persist in pursuing goals with enthusiasm” (pp.37-51). I have learned the hard way that as much planning and organizing...
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...Continuing Academic Success Jason Owens Gen/200 December 4, 2014 Brandon Henry Continuing Academic Success Continuing academic success can be achieved through creating goals, knowing your personal learning style and how the writing process can help you, and also by knowing which resources can be used to help you reach your goals. There are a few types of goal setting that can help you to be successful during you academic career. One of these is short term goals, which can be described as something that you would like to accomplish in the very near future i.e.: a day, a week or even a month or two. A few examples in my case are showing up to school on time with my homework turned in or planning what I might want to do on the weekend. It may also include planning what I need to do to accomplish the set goal. Another type of goal is long term goals. A long term goal can be thought of as a goal that will take an extended period of time and/or planning to complete. This type of goal is usually set when something will take you more than a year to achieve. This is the category where your future usually falls into, whether it be to complete your degree program, find your dream career or maybe even start a family. All of these things take large amounts of time and planning to do the things that will be needed to accomplish any of the tasks. By creating goals, you give yourself a way to track your success. It should also help you to stay organized and focused so instead of...
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...CONTINUING ACADEMIC SUCCESS Dale Ray Blackard GEN/201 5/23/2016 Laticia Dezell Continued Academic Success Continuing academic success opens opportunities for advancement and increases monetary value based upon transferred knowledge. Education promotes a person as a dedicated person that does the necessary actions to accomplish the personal preference of the goal desired. One who exemplifies this internal drive receives advancements in the work place. Promotions and added responsibilities are usually given to this type of person. This drive for improvements does not stop at work. This person usually has a very nice home life. The advancements in the home life are shown in the materialistic things such as the clothes you wear and the house one possesses. In fact, continuing education can open up previously closed doors and lead to better opportunities (“Benefits of Continuing Education”, 2016). Educational and Career Goals As I have begun my online college journey, I have changed the desire of just wanting a degree. The adventures of studying over the past several weeks has opened my eyes to the fact that the educational goal of wanting my Bachelor’s Degree is not the only reason that I now want to complete school. I have learned how to better myself through different learning activities and discovered personality traits that will help me advance in my career and in my life decisions. I lost a good paying job because of economic factors. In trying to get another job...
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...Continuing Academic Success Name GEN/201 Date Teacher Name Continuing Academic Success Achieving academic success is something that many individuals consider to be a challenging task. Some people even think that it might be too difficult to worry even about trying to achieve it. While attempting to reach your goal in obtaining academic success, you must meet your university’s expectations and guidelines to reach your goal of being awarded a degree. If you want to thrive in school, you have to be willing to work hard and make sacrifices. The same initiative will also be needed to be successful in whatever career path you choose for yourself. By proving not only to yourself but others that you can see it through in getting your degree, you are also setting yourself up to have a definite career path in the future. Setting goals is a significant step in achieving success. By recognizing your goals, you can realize what is truly important. Setting specific goals, rather than a wide-ranging off objectives, encourages you to work harder to obtain your goals. To reach your goal, you must first determine whether that goal is a realistic one and if it is an achievable one. Once you have established this, the next step is to come up with a plan with exact steps to help you reach your goal. The steps in the plan not only guide you down the path, but also provide you with reassurance to continue working toward goal achievement as each action is completed. I plan on following...
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...Continuing Academic Success Joseph La Corte GEN/201 12/1/2014 Portia Dennis Continuing Academic Success Despite the time needed and money spent, returning to school as an adult is never a bad idea due to the opportunities it can present. If approached with an open mind the idea of returning to school, while daunting, is easily justified. A person who feels stuck, spinning their tires so to speak, can go back to school to gain more traction by learning new skills and earning a degree. It’s not supposed to be simple, in fact, approximately 60% of undergraduates attend more than one college while earning a bachelor’s degree (Kinser & Deitchman, 2007), but with determination and persistence it can be done. Setting Goals Goals can be set by being honest with oneself. What do I want to achieve in this endeavor? What are the real reasons for my enrollment in school? (Callin, 1983) My particular goals are, like many others, based on financial success. I want to be comfortable. I want to be able to provide for my family, and when I have children of my own I want my wife to have the option of not working. How do I do that without getting a degree? The answer for me was no. So I decided then I would set an educational goal for myself, to earn my bachelor’s degree. After selecting my degree I set a professional goal of becoming an IT specialist or programmer, more specifically a mobile applications developer. These goals will serve as a driving force for me in school. Critical...
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