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Bold Growth Mindset Scholarship

Funded by
$500
1 winner$500
Awarded
Application Deadline
Apr 14, 2022
Winners Announced
May 25, 2022
Education Level
Any
Recent Bold.org scholarship winners

“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning,” -Benjamin Franklin.

Having a growth mindset can help you maintain a positive attitude throughout all of life’s trials, helping you learn from and overcome difficult situations.

This scholarship aims to motivate students to always be open to growth, change, and progress so they can make the most of difficult situations. 

Any student who lives with a growth mindset may apply for this scholarship. 

To apply, tell us what you do to keep a growth mindset in your life?

Selection Criteria:
Ambition, Need, Boldest Bold.org Profile
Published January 13, 2022
Essay Topic

How do you keep a growth mindset?

150–300 words

Winning Application

Rosaamelia Cordova
University of California-DavisKnights Landing, CA
Failing has crushed my self-esteem before. I learned to become comfortable with failure, challenge myself in my areas of failure, and ask for help. A great example of this is my current coding journey. In my freshman year of college, I took an introductory coding class because I saw it as a valuable skill. My fixed mindset led to many failures when facing challenges in the class. I thought I lacked the naturally gifted skills others had to succeed and easily gave in to failure. This left me crushed and fearful of coding. The following year, I took my first design class where I was introduced to the growth mindset and gained awareness of my fixed mindset. Learning about the growth mindset gave me hope and I strived to make this my dominant mindset. One of the most difficult steps to accomplishing this was accepting my failure in coding and rebranding it as a setback and learning experience. This gave me the confidence to register for another coding class. My success in this class helped me regain confidence, and more importantly, showed me that I can learn to code. I then took another class with a more challenging coding language. Near the end of the class, I almost gave in to my fixed mindset but was able to overcome my challenge by asking for assistance from my professor. Even after this difficulty, I plan to enroll in a capstone coding course in my major because I have seen the benefits of defying the limits I set myself. As I have become more comfortable with failure, I have amassed a collection of situations where I was near failure, yet ended up surpassing the hardships and succeeding. These memories now drive me forward through challenges and cultivate my growth mindset.
Aaron Mitchell
Georgia State UniversityAtlanta, GA
To maintain a growth mindset, I created a system that helps me deal with the feelings of insecurity and defensiveness that inhibit growth. For example, I often feel bad about my artwork, which makes addressing the problems I face more difficult because it can be painful. To deal with the insecurity of my artistic self-image, I reframe the problem. Instead of focusing on how bad I feel in the moment, I turn my attention to how good I will feel tomorrow knowing that my art is objectively better because I practiced intentionally. As a result, I work harder in pursuit of that warm, rewarding feeling of satisfaction. To maintain growth in the face of inevitable fluctuations in motivation, drive, and interest, I structure the time I spend working based on a work-reward feedback loop. Each time I work, I alternate between working for 45 minutes and spending 15 minutes relaxing. This way, I avoid burnout and make it clear when I will be rewarded for my work. Additionally, I make sure to write out detailed goals and specific, actionable means of achieving them before I start working. This way, I know exactly what I’m doing and why. With this system, I have drastically improved my art skills, won scholarships, and improved my physical and mental health in the past year. I hope this advice helps others face their insecurities and continue to grow.

FAQ

When is the scholarship application deadline?

The application deadline is Apr 14, 2022. Winners will be announced on May 25, 2022.

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