by judiethcarol www.coolrocketschool.org
2. Motivation-The second of six ways to a private school education and track to college without a lot of money.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
Theodore Roosevelt
Opportunity dances with those who are ready on the dance floor.
H. Jackson Brown Jr.
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
Thomas Edison
In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.
Albert Einstein
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According to Wikipedia, ‘intrinsic motivation’ has been studied by social and educational psychologists since the early 1970s. Their findings are: Motivation is associated with high educational achievement and enjoyment by students.
In sum: The more you learn and enjoy your achievements, the easier it is to learn and enjoy more achievements. You are motivated.
The summary about motivation and reaching goals (like finishing college) points out that rewards and competition (extrinsic motivation) do contribute (winning and rewards are motivating); but the greater pleasure and security--and the resulting motivation from within-- (intrinsic) comes to you when:
* You feel that you can control your results (for example, by the amount of effort);
* You understand that your results are not determined by chance or by luck (as in: you make your own luck—and the more you try, the luckier you are); and
* You are interested in mastering a topic—not just in getting good grades. You like that: ‘Ohhh, now I get it’—feeling on a regular basis.
When I graduated from college many years ago, the statistics were that 30% of the WORLD’s college graduates were graduating in the United States of America. Today, that percentage of all the world college graduates is now 15% or even lower.
In the meantime, the economy of the world, including the United States of America, has shifted so that the USA is desperate for college graduates and students trained in higher levels of math and science to fill the positions providing a good income and benefits for individuals and families. Then, (in today’s grandparents’ day), there were excellent positions in automobile plants and steel mills and family businesses. Today, the best positions require higher education and extensive training, especially in math, science, and reading.
Too, for the top rated colleges in America, over 90% of the students—specifically, the graduating students--are from the families with the highest income levels in the country.
Translation for students today: You can compete. You can find your intrinsic motivation that never stops. Your parents and grandparents were more likely to get good jobs and to live longer if they graduated from college, but they were also living with friends and family members who were able to have a rewarding and secure lifestyle by working at an interesting job not requiring college. In fact, they often worked up through the training programs.
Today’s students do not have the wide-ranging options of different types of ‘good’ jobs. Today’s students need more math and science and reading to do the new types of ‘good’ jobs in America.
‘Motivation’ to learn and to keep learning for a lifetime comes from within (intrinsic) and from outside (extrinsic). You have much control over both types. Your personal achievements grow as your enjoyment of the work itself grows. Take control. This is independence on the highest level. Be self-motivated. Use what you have to do what you want to do.
judiethcarol www.coolrocketschool.org or google blog cool rocket school tutor
