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Continuing Academic Success

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Continuing Academic Success

GEN/201

09/29/14
Felicia Pettway

Continuing Academic Success

It was a big decision for me to continue my path to higher education without giving up. Personally, it took me 4 years of community college to finish with my general education program because of the obstacle that came through my path. Being in school my whole life, honestly speaking I was just about ready to give up because of the stress and pressure. Knowing how far I was to my goal and a little help from my family I was able to make a decision to not give up and peruse my goal and attain my diploma. Persistence is key and in knowing that I am going to strive to finish my goal.
Setting Goals Setting goals is key when it comes to achieving them. It is crucial to set realistic goals that you know you can accomplish as opposed to setting unrealistic one that you know is far from reach. The University talks a lot about setting goals and achieving them. According to University of Phoenix Goal Setting and Time Management (2014), S.M.A.R.T. goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely. One personal goals that I set forth for myself is to obtain by Bachelor’s Degree in Business and Management. That will enable me in my career to move the corporate ladder and acquire the position I see myself in. The Writing Process Good writing is essential for success in school and the 21st Century workplace. Writing is a combination of skill that is best taught by breaking up the writing process. By focusing on the process of writing, almost everyone learns to write successfully. The five steps in the writing process are pre writing, making a draft, revising, editing, and publishing. (University of Phoenix, 2014). When the writer goes through the step by step process the mystery is alleviated and it becomes easier for the writer to compose a successful essay. In the writing process it is also crucial to include any references and give proper credit to any cited source. After the student goes through the writing process and comes up with the final draft, it is important to go over the final draft and make any necessary improvement to make it flawless. Finally students discover the benefits of constructive feedback on their writing, and they progressively master, and even enjoy, writing. I will use the writing process to help me compose a well written essay and also help me enhance my professionalism in my career.
Ethical Lens Inventory The Ethical Lens Inventory helps students to put them into categorize depending on a brief survey and on how they responded to each question. Once the answers were selected my preferred lens was Rights and Responsibility and Relationship Lens. Which meant that “Your Core Values: Autonomy/Equality and Rationality, Your Classical Values: Temperance and Justice, Your Key Phrase: “I am fair and responsible.” Your Definition of ethical behavior: Fulfilling duties fairly, Your Tools for analyzing problems: Reason and Authority, Your Gift: Self-Awareness and Justice, Your Blind spot: Belief that motive justifies method or Overconfidence in process, Your Risk: Being autocratic or authoritarian, Your Temptation: Excuses and Exemption, Your Vice: Becoming judgmental or an ambitious elitist, Your Crisis: Exhaustion, isolation and guilt, Your Seeing Clearly: Listen to your heart” (University of Phoenix, 2014). I was shocked on how accurate this was and I completely agree with all of the sub categories and there meanings. Knowing this information is going to help me make better decisions because when truth finally looks straight in your face there is no better solution but to face it. It is one thing to know how you are as an individual internally but when it is written down and described in great detail on how a specific individual is it’s amazing.

Critical Thinking Skills Critical thinking is crucial in our everyday lives and when we think critically we are able to make informed decisions with our eyes open. Also critical thinking comes in handy for any situation, like when faced with a decision to purchase a product or what to believe in, critical thinking skills come in to play. Consequentially critical thinking skills are required to survive in this day of age and is also required to succeed in life. One way I’m going to improve my critical thinking skills is to questions my assumptions. Assumptions are not always right and when we questions our assumptions we are digging deeper and searching for the truth and using our critical thinking skills.
University Resources The University offers many tools and resources to students in order to make them successful. The University’s Library tab offer many useful resources like the center for writing excellence which offers tutorials and guides, step by step grammar review, live assistance, and write point. The tools come in handy for students to help them compose an essay, check their spelling/grammar, learn how to cite and reference properly. Also the plagiarism checker and APA format template come in handy when submitting essay, they help to ensure that their paper is in good standing and ready to be submitted. I familiarized myself with all the tools and resources that the University provides and it helps make my life much easier.
Outside Resources Outside resources are beneficial to students as well because they are able to find more information on what it is there looking for. Whether it be books, magazines, or the internet there is a lot of information available for students to look for and research on the topic of their desire. Some negative factors about outside resources especially the internet are trustworthy information, correct information, and outdated information. Just because it is on the internet does not mean it is true and many people are misled by this. Also it is very important to check the authenticity of the source to ensure whether the source is liable or not. Last but not least it is important to check if the information is old or current, the reason being is because people constantly rewrite and redefine books, ideas, and concepts.
Conclusion
In conclusion setting goals is crucial to success whether it is for education or career purposes. It is important to set goals in order to get to somewhere in life. Without goals life would be pointless and boring. It is also crucial to master the writing process in order to compose a well written essay. Knowing which ethical lens you fall under is very important as well because it tells you a lot about a specific individual and helps you make better decisions. Critical thinking skills come into play throughout our day to day activities. When we think critically we are able to make better decisions by not thinking harder but by thinking smarter. Also it is very important to utilize all the resources that our available to us including all the resources provided by the University Library and outside resources. When we utilize all the resources we are fully informed and are able to talk about any given topic.

References
University of Phoenix. (2014). Goal Setting and Time Management. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, GEN/201 Website.
University of Phoenix. (2014). The Writing Process. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, GEN/201 Website.
University of Phoenix. (2014). Ethics Game [Multimedia]. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, GEN/201 Website.

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