Don't wait, Motivate!

MOTIVATION
What about college is motivating?
You're paying over 50,000 dollars a year to be here, you might as well make the most out of your opportunities at school.
Many students do not prioritize doing work and are lazy and unmotivated to achieve good grades in college.
Some students have the attitude that, if they're going to graduate anyways, what is the point of stressing and working hard. College is supposed to be fun.
Other students, take advantage of the privilege of being at school and work their hardest no matter what scenario.

There are two types of motivators in college:
External Motivator VS. Internal Motivator

External Motivation derives from something that is a consequence of doing well outside of how you feel about your achievements.
For example: People are motivated to achieve good grades, because they will be awarded with an achievement of praise from someone else.
Internal Motivation stems from anything that makes a subject feel good about themselves by accomplishing their work or doing well in school.
For example: A student might feel great happiness by doing well on an exam, regardless of what others think or say about the achievement.

My Motivation:
I am almost solely motivated by one goal I have for the school year: to get into Newhouse.
I came to Syracuse with the intentions and dreams of transferring into Newhouse at the end of my Freshman year. To be in Newhouse has been a dream of mine ever since I started thinking about applying to colleges. I have a great passion for filmmaking and plan to, one day, pursue it as my career. I know I will get a wonderful education in Newhouse that will prepare me for a job hopefully in my near future.
Therefore, my motivation stems from the grades I earn in class. Unfortunately, Newhouse acceptance only considers your G.P.A. and nothing else. The only factors they take when admitting students to their school as transfers are what your grade point average was at the end of your Freshman year.
I have challenged myself enough this school year with classes that I thought I would find useful and interesting, but I know that I will not hold back and prioritize thinking just about grades next year when I, G-d willing, am in Newhouse...

I am a Kinesthetic Learner, therefore I prefer to use graphic organizers to see how well my grades will come out IF I achieve a certain grade on a paper or exam. I always anticipate what I will achieve so I know exactly what to expect in my future.

I have specifically motivated myself for two classes individually:
Religion 101 firstly, I am strongly motivated because I find the class to actually be very interesting, and I would be disappointed with myself if I did not achieve as good a grade as I have wanted to for this whole semester. My teacher is very nice and I respect him enough to show that I really care about the class and the taught subject. I am internally motivated to do well for my own self approval.
The other class where I try to motivate myself a lot is CLS 105. This class gives you exactly what you take away from it. I have put enough effort into the assignments that I actually have learned a lot from it already. My motivation to do well in CLS is so that I can actually benefit from its teachings. CLS, in turn, will hopefully also help me raise my GPA in that class and in my others also.

I have never really been pressured to do well in school from my parents, my motivation has always really stemmed from my own awareness and ambition. I am, therefore, almost only internally motivated, not externally. My external motivation is getting into Newhouse.
Because my motivation comes from my GPA, I worry about it constantly. I work my hardest in my classes, but often get overwhelmed with all my work and discouraged when I fail to perform as well as I would have wanted to on a given assignment.
MYSLICE has a great feature: the "GPA Calculator."
You can plug in your already achieved grades and average out your estimated GPA's for your remaining classes of the school year. The system then automatically calculates your total GPA for the year.

I found this 'ultimatum' strategy very helpful. It's almost as if I am threatening myself to do well or else, I will not get into Newhouse or learn things I would never have otherwise...I am always motivated to do well in my classes because of the eventual goal of getting into Newhouse next year.

I have attached pictures to show how IF I achieve the grades I think I am deserving, then what I hope my final GPA will succeed a 3.65 in order to get into Newhouse next year.

BEFORE:


AFTER: