Redefine the Mindset: How I Turn My Life Around

Summary

The author describes a personal journey of overcoming academic and social challenges in college after transitioning from a disciplined high school environment to a diverse and less structured university setting, ultimately achieving success by changing their mindset and attitude.

Abstract

The article titled "Redefine the Mindset: How I Turn My Life Around" is a reflective piece detailing the author's experience with failure and success. Initially, the author faced significant difficulties adapting to the university's international environment, diverse student body, and English language policy, which led to a decline in academic performance and threatened their scholarship. After hitting a low point, the author experienced an epiphany, realizing that self-improvement and a positive attitude were key to overcoming challenges. By actively seeking mentorship, improving communication with teaching staff, and practicing gratitude, the author managed to turn their situation around, completing their degree with notable achievements and learning a valuable lesson about self-conquest and resilience.

Opinions

Success is not just about achievement but also about perseverance through failure.
The transition from a structured high school to a more chaotic college environment can be challenging and disorienting.
Overcoming language barriers and cultural differences is crucial for academic and social success in an international setting.
Maintaining a scholarship requires more than just academic performance; it demands adaptability and personal growth.
Self-reflection and the willingness to change one's mindset are essential for personal development.
Building relationships and

Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts — Winston Churchill

Talking about success means talking about failure. Because after all, success can only be achieved after we have gone through dozens, even hundreds of failures.

I was given an extraordinary gift in my life when I graduated from one of the best senior high school in my country and got a scholarship to continue my education at a leading private university. With great enthusiasm, I stepped into a new phase of life as a college student.

Little did I knew that the transition from high school to college life can be very challenging with pebbles that are ready to derail the steps of someone who cannot get through it well. And I had to take a very winding road.

Used to be educated in a semi-military boarding school full of discipline and order, I had to live in an international dormitory environment consists of a variety of people with diverse backgrounds, races, and nationalities. Discipline turns into freedom, routine and order change into chaos. I was starting to experience some disorientation, confusion, and quick erosion of self-confidence. As if that wasn’t enough, the university’s policy of using English as a colloquial language has shaken me to the core. The “language barrier” kept me isolated, limiting me from associating with fellow students and the teaching staff.

Photo by Tim Gouw from Pexels

Since I was one of the students who was awarded a full scholarship, I was required to maintain satisfactory academic performance each semester, otherwise, my scholarship was subject to be downgraded. However, living in a condition that far from ideal, certainly affect my academic performance. I got through the early months with a feeling of suffering, spending countless of nail-biting moments while still trying to do my best in the classroom. I passed the first semester with a 3.00 GPA, a mediocre mark, albeit still satisfying enough to maintain my scholarship. But I feel the time bomb was still ticking since I have not found the solutions for the basic psychological problems that remain.

It did not take long for the time bomb to finally explode. My academic performance dropped significantly in the second semester. I received a severe warning from the scholarship board and face the prospect of being removed from the list of scholarship holders. I was mentally devastated and the feeling of being a loser filled my heart. I feel like I was left at the bottom of failure and has nowhere else to go.

Photo by Inzmam Khan from Pexels

But the feeling of being at the bottom of a cliff ultimately saved me too. When I feel like I had nowhere else to go, God inspired me that the only way is to crawl up. I realized that I hadn’t lost it all and my life was still rolling. Only when I stopped did I accept defeat. I began to recall the old proverb my dad used to say to me when I was a child: “once the intention was spoken, there was no word to lament “

I decided to get up. I decided to improve myself. I am fully aware that the first thing I must conquer on my journey to success is myself. For a year I have been under the influence of my poor mentality: isolated, unwilling to accept failure, and blame the situation. I began to realize that I could not control the circumstances around me and how people treated me. But I know for sure that I have full control of my attitude and my self-response to these external factors.

Control your own destiny or someone else will. — Jack Welch

So from that moment, everything began to change towards positivity. I began to change my mindset. I expanded my relationships, attended mentoring classes, and communicated intensively with the teaching staff. And last but not least, I began to do what I had forgotten: being grateful.

Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…it makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. — Melody Beattie

It didn’t take long until my academic achievements returned to the winning ways. And the pinnacle of all this was when I completed my undergraduate degree in less than 4 years with a very satisfying achievement. It remains the biggest turnaround of my life to this day, something that never fails to inspire me whenever I have to navigate difficult circumstances again. This is about how I can conquer myself to achieve success: from zero to hero. And if I can do this once, I bet I can do it all over again.

For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories -Plato