How a growth mindset can lead to success

Design generated on AI by Isabella Tompkins

For many students, bad grades in school make them feel anxious and discouraged, believing that they aren’t smart enough. Some even start to question their own value. But other girls at Carrollton have a different perspective. When they see a bad grade, they see it as a chance to learn, improve, and come back stronger. Those who see failure this way have something that’s called a growth mindset, the idea that you can get better at things if you put in effort, keep learning, and don’t give up. According to a study published in Psychological Science, people with a growth mindset perform better when things get hard and continue improving over time, while others with a fixed mindset usually give up more easily. A fixed mindset is when you think your abilities can’t change.

Even students who struggle at first can learn to improve. Alexandra Kolaya ’27 is one student who has been practicing her growth mindset. “It wasn’t always this way,” said Kolaya, who believes she has a pretty healthy growth mindset now. “At first, doing poorly on a test or struggling with something felt really discouraging.” Through her disappointments, she realized that a growth mindset can be built by anyone. “If I do badly on a test, I’ll reflect on it and know that I need to study more for the next one,” she said. 

Marianne Murrle ’29 connects having a growth mindset to her spirituality. “For me, having a growth mindset means not letting failures get to you. It’s about always trusting God’s plan, looking for the good in things and always trying to improve. Just because something bad happened once doesn’t mean it’s the end,” she said. 

Upper School psychology teacher Mrs. Vigoa explains that a growth mindset isn’t just about improving on tests, it’s also about how students handle challenges in general. She encourages students to focus on their effort and positive qualities, rather than getting discouraged by mistakes. “You’re not going to make someone smarter by telling them they’re dumb,” she said. “When students acknowledge they didn’t get it the first time but are willing to try again, that’s when real growth happens.” She also connects this mindset to spirituality, reminding her students that life will have challenges, but how they respond matters. By focusing on growth, perseverance, and reflection, students develop skills they can carry with them throughout their lives.