I've never been a good test-taker. Ever since I was in Kindergarten, tests have always been

difficult for me. I would always have to study hard, practice for hours, and get extra help.

Tests just never came easy to me. Especially multiple-choice tests. I often found myself

choosing the wrong answer. Most of the time, I would get nervous or anxious, and over think

the question. I have always thought that there is more than just one right answer to a question,

and more than one solution to a problem. This has made it very difficult for me to choose

the right answers on tests.

Because of this, I grew up thinking that I wasn't smart. All of my other friends seemed

to be able to pass tests with flying colors without even studying. I used to hate it when

they would finish a test and say, "Well that was easy!" because I never thought any test

was easy. What's worse, I would always be the last person to finish a test. For every

test, I would have to reread each question multiple times and go back to check my answers.

I would even convince myself to change some of my original answers. This process seemed

to take forever. But this is what I did for every test.

Most of the time I actually did pretty well on tests. Only because I studied and practiced

a lot. I felt like I had to work harder than the other students in class just to get good

grades. Tests just seemed to be so natural and easy for them. I could never seem to understand

why.

When it was time to take the SATs I was so nervous I could barely stand it. I studied,

completed practice tests and tried to prepare for the test as best as I could. When I took

the test the first time, do you know what I got? A 1000. Back then, that was out of

a total of 1600. It was like getting a 63% on the most important test I had ever taken.

I was very disappointed. So, I decided to get a tutor to improve my score. I worked

with my tutor twice a week for a few months and was beginning to gain my confidence back.

Then when I got my score back for my second test, guess what I got? A 980. I did WORSE

than I did on the first test, even with tutoring. I was devastated.

Luckily I was still able to get into a good college because I had good grades in school

and I worked really hard. In college, I was still able to get good grades and I ended

up getting a great teaching job, even with more low test scores. I realized that all

my hard work had finally paid off for me.

It wasn't until a few years ago, when I read a book called Mindset, by Dr. Carol Dweck,

that I finally began to realize that I was smart in my own way. The book was about the

fact that, "... human qualities, such as intellectual skills, could be cultivated through effort."

This is what she refers to as the "growth-mindset".

I learned three valuable lessons from reading this book.

1. Anyone can can get smarter from education and practice.

2. My intellectual strength was divergent, creative thinking

3. We should think of difficulties in life as challenges and opportunities for growth

After reflecting on my experiences in life, I realized that everyone is smart in their

own way. Everyone has different strengths, which is why teams are often more successful

than individuals. I also learned about an idea called Multiple Intelligences by Howard

Gardner who believes that everyone has at least one type of intelligence. For example,

some people can be music smart, body smart, or people smart. These are all different types

of intelligences that we as human beings possess, and one type of smart is not necessarily better

than the rest. This is what helps to make the world go around ... celebrating our differences

and our multiple intelligences!

So, I challenge you to figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are and use them

to your advantage in life. Leverage your strengths, and try to improve on your weaknesses. Be

proud of who you are and know that you can always improve your abilities with education,

practice, and hard work!