The Key to Success in College Is So Simple It’s Almost Never Mentioned - Commentary

Jonathan Malesic, who teaches writing at the University of Texas at Dallas and is author of “The End of Burnout”, writes:  In more than 20 years of college teaching, I have seen that students who are open to new knowledge will learn. Students who aren’t, won’t. But this attitude is not fixed. The paradoxical union of intellectual humility and ambition is something that every student can (with help from teachers, counselors and parents) and should cultivate. It’s what makes learning possible. The willingness to learn is related to the “growth mind-set” — the belief that your abilities are not fixed but can improve. But there is a key difference: This willingness is a belief not primarily about the self, but about the world. It’s a belief that every class offers something worthwhile, even if you don’t know in advance what that something is.