A Latina and first-generation college student joined my MESA Program in Week 1 of the spring semester. She is majoring in bioengineering, but she also had two previous unsuccessful attempts in higher education, in which she dropped out of the community college after failing to succeed academically. Quite frankly, as emphasized in the quote above, she was allowed to be traumatized repeatedly while in the dark with regards to the learning culture, and she was likely close to abandoning her dream of becoming a bioengineer, except that she found the courage to make a third attempt at succeeding in college. Fortunately, this attempt will have a different outcome because she found my MESA Program, and, as a new MESA student, she was trained in the learning culture, and this immediately transformed her life!
The learning culture has given her hope and true empowerment to create her own success. In the light of the learning culture, she now knows the strategies for effectively approaching the learning, and she knows what it means to have a strong mindset for learning, i.e., commitment, the secret to success, self-advocacy, emotional intelligence, mental toughness, goal focus, embracing vulnerability, and the purpose for the learning – freedom! Armed with the learning culture, she is empowered to define herself, rather than be defined by others, outcomes, or situations.
While checking-in with me in Week 3 – and only two weeks after joining my MESA Program, I happened to share the quote above with her. Here is our exchange – reflecting what “hope and true empowerment” look like:
Latina: “Yes, that’s right. It’s already happening!”
Corner Man (surprised): “What?!”
Latina: “The learning culture has helped me to increase my quiz scores in math (trigonometry) from a 4 to 8’s and 9’s! I also keep reminding my sisters to complete the online training as soon as possible and begin applying the learning culture in their classes.” (She has a younger sister in college and an older sister in a nursing program.)
Corner Man (smiling): “Wow! That’s what I’m talking about. I’m very proud of you, and I love that you’re sharing the learning culture with your sisters.”
Latina: “And my boyfriend too!”
Corner Man (even more surprised): “WHAT?!”
Latina: “Yes, he always believed that college was not for him, but I told him about MESA and the learning culture, and he watched the (learning culture) training videos with me. We really liked the picture of the lowrider (in Part I – Why Learning Culture?) because it helped us to understand why the learning culture is important. He has also seen how excited I am to learn and how my confidence has grown because I am now succeeding in my classes. This has inspired him, and now he too wants to go to college!”
Corner Man (smiling again): “Wow! That’s amazing. I love it. I’m very proud of both you!”
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This illustrates the power of the learning culture. The student, who previously dropped out of college twice, is clearly on her way to becoming an amazing bioengineer, and she is inspired to share the learning culture with her family and boyfriend.
Are you intentionally “turning on the lights” for students that you meet? If no, then why not? The learning culture revolution has begun at turning-on-the-lights.com. There is no longer a reason for any student to remain in the dark with regards to the culture for learning which exists in every institution of higher education.