HW1: Secrets of Grade-A Students

1. Q:  List at least 5 things the students mentioned in this article did to
     become Grade A Students.
   A:
   

   • Willingness to work hard
   • Passion in learning
   • Willingness to learn anywhere outside of the school
   • Parents that always support them in learning, respond to their curiosity, and open up their world
   • Parents that are good role models for them
   • Their personal desire to do their best when learning
   • Their confidence to express their own idea, although their idea might be wrong.
   • Persistence
   • Their Creativity
   • Leadership ability
   • Interest in conducting experiments, so they just don't learn from the textbooks
   • Good preparation

2. Q:  Considering the three A’s of success what did each of these
         individuals have in common?
   A:
   
   

   • They generally tend to be diligent and enjoy learning. They also think that learning is really fun; unlike the present students who study hard only to get good marks. They make learning becoming one of their personal interests. So, if they have a school project, they will put their best efforts on doing it. They will look for informations that may help them in that project or perhaps even conduct an experiment if it's necessary. Their love in learning also make them become active student who always want to know something new to widen their mind.
3. Q: Do you think this article represents a "typical" student, why or why not?
   A:
   
   • I don't think that they're typical students. Perhaps there are several students that are like them - having passion in learning. But, most of the students now are lazy and lack motivation. They study and learn not because they want to, but because to fulfill the graduation requirement and graduate, while the students that are mentioned in the passage are really motivated to learn. Their passion in learning makes them to achieve the best results.
4. Q: Do you do any of this things mentioned in this article to help you to be successful?
   A:
   
   • Well, sometimes, in the subjects that I love, I put my best efforts. Just like them, I always look for extra information - outside of the textbook, to make my project better and I always prepare my exam as well. My passion in learning really helps me a lot during my studies. I really enjoy every moment in my favoured subject. I enjoy doing the project and assignment in that subject as much as I enjoy playing video games. Because I love doing it, I work hard to make them good. As a result, I can get good results in my favourite subjects. But, this kind of thing doesn't happen in the subjects that I don't really like. So, I usually don't get good results in those subjects. Thus, I will try enjoying those subjects, so I will be able to get good results in those subjects.
5. Q: Was there anything in this article that you might try to adopt to become more successful?
   A:
   
   • I want to be confident like them in expressing ideas. Sometimes, I really want to express my own idea in a discussion. In my opinion, my idea is good, but I hesitate to express it because I'm afraid that it'll be wrong. And if my idea is wrong, other students will think that I'm stupid and it is really embarassing. I don't want to look stupid. But, I recently realized that my way of thinking is really wrong. Making mistake is one of the process of learning. Thus, from now on, I will do my best to be confident in expressing my own idea, although it might be wrong.
6. Q: What are your strengths at school?
   A:
   
   • Perhaps my aptitude. I'm doing pretty well in almost all of my classes in Indonesia. I got a minimum grade of B in every of my class. I hope I can get good marks too here.
     
7. Q: What are your strengths in life?
   A:
   
   • I have a great adaptation skill. So, I can move from one place to other easily because I can adapt with the new circumstances fast. This strength really help me a lot when I am supposed to move to a new circumstance or place. I rarely feel homesick because my good adaptability.
8. Q: What do you believe to be the most important success to you? Place them in order of
   importance and why you chose that!
   
   • Physical Wellbeing
     In my opinion, physical wellbeing becoming the most important because it's really critical. Without success in physical wellbeing, success in the other area is pointless. Without good health, we'll just die, and we can't enjoy our other success.
   • Family Life
     Well, I think it's really important because it's one of the biggest part on our lives. In the future, I want to be a good father. I want to nurture my children to be good persons. It'll be a big success if I can nurture them to be great persons until they graduate from university. It'll be really a great and exciting experience. In contrast, I will be really sad if I have a bad family life (i.e.: I am divorced by my wife). It's really a big failure if I fail it.
   • Academics
     Doing well at school is really important. If we put our best efforts and work hard at school, I believe that bright future will wait for us. We'll get great jobs. All things that we have studied at school will help us a lot in the future.
   • Social/Relationship
     Although it's the least important success in my opinion, it still has a big role. Friends are really important. They are important because they will help us we need them. We can't live alone, we need their help. There are a lot of things that we can't do by ourselves. One more thing to keep in our mind, we can't buy friends. Perhaps we can give someone a lot of money to be our friend, but he isn't a real friend. He'll just abandon us if we are no longer able to give him money. So having friends is really important.