Mengyuan Wu

Alanis Rivera

INRW 0301-107

Essay 1 Rough Draft

October 25, 2016

Mengyuan Wu

“Focus all your life energy to whatever goal you set yourself to achieve” (The Great Pearl of Wisdom). Mengyuan Wu wanted to be successful, not only in academics but also in a hobby. It was hard for her to find an activity she was good at, but she never lost patience and always had a mindset. Achieving success in spite of adversity requires determination, growth mindset, and having a vision and goal.

        In order for her to achieve successfully, she needed to have determination. Mengyuan Wu was very determined to find a hobby she was good at. Her mother sent her to a variety of classes like ballet, piano, violin, and painting. Mengyuan did not have motivation to pursue those activities because none of them matched her interest. She was never motivated to pursue any sports that her mother would put her in. Mengyuan’s only interest since she was little was fencing, but her mother would not let her take classes because she taught that Mengyuan was not “talented”. When Mengyuan brought it up in the beginning of 11th grade her mom kept mocking her because of her “talent problem”.  Since Mengyuan was determined to learn how to fence, she insisted to her mother that she would succeed. She pushed her own personal limits, and she won a bronze medal in a competition. Although determination is key, having a growth mindset is also very important.

        Mengyuan said “what matters is what you learn and get out of it, not how high your score is”. When she started taking fencing classes, she always maintained a growth mindset. Mengyuan wanted to prove herself and her mother that she could grow, and improve in fencing. Besides winning a bronze medal, she was proud of what she gained and learned from the experience. Her growth mindset altered in many other perspectives, like the college process. Before having a growth mindset, she would only think about the university rankings, and after growing her mindset, she considered the lifestyle and activities she would have on campus. In order to get a growth mindset going, she needed a vision and goal.