Assignment #10

Among the many classes offered in the website edx, I chose the one that interested me the most, a class called American Icons by the Smithsonian museum in the USA. The class talks about items, people, and symbols that define America.I recommend this class to those who are interested in history, especially American history.

Assignment #9

I watched a TED talk from Angela Lee Duckworth today about grit. At first, I thought it was just another motivational talk about how perseverance leads to success. I was not completely right. Her talk had a slightly different dimension to it. I noticed 2 different things about her talk.
The first one. She mentioned about how grit is a long-term perseverance. It isn't something that one has for a week or a month, grit is persevering through obstacles and pressures for many years. I never really heard about a talk about having years worth of determination, and this talk reminded me that success isn't something achieved in weeks or months.
The second one. She researched different people, but in the same situation: they were in a difficult setting. Cadets in a military academy, children in the national spelling bee competition, rookie teachers working in tough neighborhoods. Their definition of success wasn't money or fame, it was survival. Getting through that difficult phase they were in was their so-called success. Other talks about fervor didn't depict success specifically, maybe it was left to the audience to decide what it means, because to be fair it is different to everyone. Not in this talk. I couldn't help but relate to the variables researched here, because i am currently studying abroad, still struggling to understand the language spoken by the people here. Like them, my current goal is to survive, to not drop out.
All in all, this talk reminded (because I have heard it a lot of times) that the key to success is not just perseverance, it is grit. And I am definitely going to need grit to succeed.