Continuing Academic Success
Fernando De Jesús
University of Phoenix

“Success on any major scale requires you to accept responsibility... In the final analysis, the one quality that all successful people have is the ability to take on responsibility”
-Michael Korda
Editor-in-Chief, Simon & Schuster

For the purpose of beginning this paper I must first confess that this has been a challenging and innovative journey. Pinpointing one thing that I’ve learned throughout this process is not only hard, but close to impossible, for I have gained, not only invaluable conceptual information, but I have also acquired insight on my academic strengths, but most importantly, my weaknesses. Thus, if I had to single out the one lesson that has provided me with the most cognizance depth and therefore, implement to my academic and career responsibility to ensure success, it would most definitely be learning how to find and utilize reliable resources such as: Peer-reviewed articles, websites from domains such as: .mil, .gov, and .edu; also navigating and using the vast amount of tools available in the university’s library; amongst, my top choices are thesis, citation generator and plagiarism reviewer.
First and foremost, I define academic and career responsibility as “failure is on me, but success is achieved in numbers”. “Many people have no goals or have only vague, idealized notions of what they want” (Ellis, 2014). Setting goals provides a clear North to follow, in order to achieve those goals. Knowing where you are heading lets you plan ahead, plan for the worst, and in some cases, and equally important, provides time to enjoy the scenery. According to the goal setting literature, goals serve as a reference point of self-satisfaction, with harder goals leading to better achievements (Gómez-Miñambres, 2012). Studies prove that people with set goals without an effect on wage tend to accomplish more than those who do not have a clear vision of goals. In addition, individual’s motivation can be driven by specific goal setting. “The measure of your achievement will be dependent upon the goals’ level of difficulty.” (Gómez-Miñambres, 2012).
Correspondingly, setting and working to achieve my educational goal is at the top of my list, for it will provide a greater chance of accomplishment for my career goal. Therefore, obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management that will enable a potential career field change or advancement in my current career field is my educational goal. Understanding your learning style helps in the endeavor of successfully completing set educational goal. Personally, it is easier for me to learn kinesthetically. I’ve always been an active person, in fact, movement is a big part of my life, as I am a martial arts expert. Having knowledge of this particularity enables me to find alternative ways to effectively adapt the acquisition of knowledge. Educators face the unique challenge of tailoring their teaching methods in order for all students to benefit from the lesson. However, it is not entirely in the teacher’s hands but also the student’s foundational knowledge (Wagner, 2014).
Without a doubt, teachers and students who fully understand the different ways students learn and put a realistic effort to include them in their lessons increases students’ development of critical thinking skills. “Educators who deviate from the traditional pedagogy of didactic, content-driven teaching to a concept-based, student-centered approach using active and kinesthetic activities can enhance engagement and improve lineal problem solving, communication skills and critical thinking to provide graduates with the tools necessary to be successful” (Wagner, 2014).These skills are a definite element in success, and every student needs to create and implement their own procedure to ensure that critical thinking skills are enabling good choices. In my particular case, I need to be more aware in the