College Success Tips & Resources
WORDS ON MOTIVATION AND SUCCESS
Dr. Mario Rivas, Professor of Psychology & Academic Senate President at Merritt College
In my 40+ years of working with thousands of students I have learned much about how students
support themselves to succeed. I offer you a list of recommendations for how to maximize your
success at Merritt College, and beyond, as my way of supporting you to achieve all the beauty and
uniqueness that is you.
First, support yourself by learning to be clear about who you are and what you want to do.
A
quote I like is “Everybody is born unique, but most of us die copies.” Related to this, there is only one
“you,” so I suggest you live every day learning to support the real you (not a copy). In doing so you
will learn that to be motivated is to “move” your “self” in exactly the direction that you want to go.
The second way you effectively motivate yourself toward success is to teach yourself to be
clear in using your mind to take the necessary steps to achieve your academic and career goals.
Here it is important for you to
know
not just think you know what is necessary for success. For
example, if your assessment test scores or personal skills assessment tell you that your best approach
to success is to take pre-‐algebra or elementary algebra in order to be truly prepared for higher math
(calculus or statistics) or that preparatory English is your next best step to be prepared for the
demanding writing skills that will be required of you in college, do what “you know” is best to be
prepared for your future. In short, the best way to motivate your self is to develop a clear mind that
“chooses wisely” to do or take all the necessary steps to build confidence and essential skills to assure
success.
A third way to support yourself toward success is to ensure that you work on your self-‐esteem.
This is best captured by a quote I like related to self-‐esteem: “Self-‐esteem is confidence in one’s
ability to think and cope with the challenges of life
.” From me to you, you develop the self-‐esteem
associated with the unique person you are by learning to listen and act on what you think is right for
you. For example, if you think “I want to be successful in college” and you act in all the ways
necessary to be successful, e.g. spend necessary time studying, work with tutors, visit teachers during
their office hours, etc., you will become a disciple to your mind (self-‐discipline). In doing what “you
think,” you will strengthen your confidence in your mind, which along with your heart, is the most
powerful force related to maintaining the necessary motivation and personal strength to achieve your
goals.
The last step toward motivation and success is to create a supportive environment, both from
within and outside yourself.
From inside, you must learn to believe in and support the goodness and
uniqueness of you. In supporting your success from within, I recommend that you equate your
developing strengths of self to those of a developing child. You would never criticize, compare such a
child to others, nor put such a child down for making mistakes or being confused or not doing things
perfectly. So, why would you ever treat yourself in a nagging or negative way, or compare yourself
negatively to others (compare and despair), which is what many of us too often do. In short, learn to
think positively and supportively about yourself and realize that if you keep trying and learning, no
matter how many mistakes you make you’ll continually “get better and better, not bitter!”
Along with learning to support yourself from within, reach out to positive others around you
who have learned how to be supportive and helpful human beings. Whether it is instructors,
counselors, tutors, student services workers, etc., if you reach out for help we at Merritt College are
here to support you in every way we can. In short, we know that a supportive learning community is
one where we constantly value and support your growth and strength as a learner and thinker.
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