22 Mindset Matters You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go… —Dr. Seuss When I dare to be powerful – to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid. —Audre Lorde The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any. —Alice Walker C H A P T E R 2 In Your Own Words Reflect on and write down as much as you want for each of these questions in your dedicated journal. Feel free to come back to revisit or revise or add to your responses as you move through the chapter. What do you bring? ◗ ◗ Past experiences where you discovered a strength (for example, you had to give a presentation in school, and when you were up in front of class you realized you had everyone’s attention, you were getting energy from doing this and it felt just right) ◗ ◗ Past experiences where you developed a strength (for example, you focus your time and energy for a period of time to develop your layup in basketball or your serve in tennis or your ability to complete Sudoku puzzles) ◗ ◗ Past experiences where you became discouraged by a task and didn’t return to it (for example, you fell off a skateboard your first time out and thought, “Nope, this isn’t for me” and did not try it again) What do you hope to find? ◗ ◗◗ What is your best-case scenario in terms of the community you are joining at your college? ◗ What do you think you need to learn? What are you curious about? ◗ ◗ What makes you excited about college, either in terms of things you want to study and learn OR in terms of how this new lifestyle will feel? What makes you nervous? 2.1 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.