14A

1) Tenaciousness is a competency. 

- I think that to develop tenacity, knowing yourself is very important. What I mean by this is, doing things when you are most effective. There are many times when you need to push through but having an understanding and being able to monitor your mood, level of focus, potential places and times to be distracted, and who you need to be surrounded with at what times are key. It's easy for a student to think that studying all day in the library without break is the best way to get stuff done but that is not what the evidence shows. In my first semester at UF, I read "How to Become a Straight A Student" by Cal Newport which really taught me how to schedule my days to work when I am most effective and plan for the inevitable distractions of life. These have helped me manage my hectic "business major" schedule that requires lots of involvement, career prep, and internships. Applying these skills to this course have made it enjoyable and have allowed me to actually focus when engaging with the content and throughout the assignments. 

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. 

During the past two months, I thought I was going to have to drop one of my hard classes. The day before the exam I took a practice test and did not do well so I started to panic. Yet, my panic did not last as long as it had in the past when situations like this came up. I realized that it is not the end of the world and even if I did fail, I had many ways to make it up and even be very productive for the rest of the semester if I would have had to drop it. I reminded myself of how special it is for me to be at UF in the first place and that I have seen lots of success in the past and that this one moment would not be the defining moment of my life. In fact, I'm not sure that any moment can define the success of your whole life. I know that great things are respectable because they are hard and that I can get back up immediately once things get bad if I just make the decision to. 

3) Three tips. 

- I would first read "How to Become a Straight A Student" by Cal Newport and "12 Rules for Life" by Jordan Peterson because they both provide honest perpectives on the tasks college students face and the hardship that is living. They have helped me better define my aspirations and goals for what I want out of college and life and how I can achieve those things. 

- I think it's important to challenge yourself to do things that you know would impress you. If you do not have some sort of goals, you'll find yourself lost. Writing down your goals and placing them somewhere will help a lot. Everyone hears it but it really does help me focus and bring me back to reality in rough and distracted times. 

- I think it is important to try and observe yourself and your world from that of a visitor who knows nothing about you. When you really focus on why you do the things you do and try to recognize what you are really getting out of them, you can figure out the flaws that are keeping you from your potential.