In life, there are two types of people -- “Creators” and “Victims.” Often many people play the “Victim”, but it’s just a matter of the mind. A “Victim” defined by Dr. Skip Downing, in his book, is a person who doesn’t feel like he or she has control over his or her outcomes and, consequently, he or she tends to let bad things rule him or her instead of making things happen. Therefore, “Victims” never achieve their goals. On the other hand, Downing defines a “Creator” as someone who actively makes choices that lead them to achieve their goals (42). For me, I will be a creator and achieve my goals in college and beyond, and if possible, minimize the number of times I play a victim in my life.
Professor David Mirman is a teacher, with a teaching blog, where he describes two of his female student’s experiences in trying to get a textbook. One student did not get hers and so persevered calling several bookstores. After the stores told her they did not carry the book she decided to look at stores further out. Still, she had no luck in finding the book, so she went online and bought a used copy for cheap and used the money she saved to pay for two-day shipping; this shows she was the “Creator” in this situation. The other student just called the bookstore and then told professor Mirman that the store didn’t have any books, so it wasn’t her fault. This was true, but still, she just left it at that while the other student took the initiative and managed to get the book. In his blog, Mirman describes how “Creators” create the results they want while “Victims” almost never reach the results they want. Mirman closes his blog by warning his students to avoid “Victim” language and become “Creators” (Mirman).
For me, one time in my life I played the Victim was in my 11th-grade year. Up until that point in my life, I had decided I wanted to be a bioengineer and had tailored my classes to reflect that career path mainly lots of science and math classes. It was the third period, and I was in algebra two I was sitting in the back of the room by the window which was my assigned seat; my pencil was scratching speedily through the problems about irrational numbers. Before then, I had no direction as far as to what I wanted to do; liking science, and more specifically biology, I figured being a bioengineer would be fun. But, in the back of my head, a part of me didn’t like this path, and it culminated on that day in that class. I was trying to solve the problems when I admitted to myself that being a bioengineer wasn’t what I wanted to be. I got through the rest of the day as normal, but once I started thinking about it, I was anguished. The past three years of work and effort wasted and more important to me, and I was stuck a year away from graduation without any clue as to what I wanted to do. For several days, I was distraught blaming the educational system for talking up the STEM fields or my counselors for not doing more to help me figure out what I wanted to do and so on. This state of mind went on for a while with me blaming others and not my complacency in just picking a career without thinking if I wanted to do it. Then a week later, I was pacing in my room thinking to myself while listening to my iPod with my earphones in; I stopped in the middle of my room thinking about my situation and decided instead of blaming others, I needed to find a way forward. I reexamined my skill set and thought about what I wanted to do and decided I wanted to be an animator, which is still my preferred dream job today.
One person in my life who I know is a Creator, is my best friend, Austin. I have known him since I was in kindergarten and while I didn’t know back then, I now know even back then he was a “Creator.” One such occasion was our senior year when we both took a drawing class at our high school. From the start, he wasn't an outstanding student; he would often miss class and school in general. On the days when Austin did come in, he was so far behind that whatever he did, wouldn't matter or make a difference. I remember during one of the days when he did attend I wanted to approach the subject with him, but the teacher had sat us on opposite sides of the room. He had come over and sat next to me so he and I could talk. While I worked we, both sat in the corner of the classroom at the edge of a square table with the object of study at the center of the table. He had explained to me that the reason why he had not been coming to school was not the course or the teachers, or any other excuses usual Victims might say. Instead, he stated that he didn't want to attend because he didn't understand the material, and he wanted to focus more on his bodybuilding career which he had wanted to do since the beginning of the year. Because of his prolonged absences, he couldn’t graduate with the rest of our class, but instead of blaming the system or anyone other than himself, he acknowledged that he was the problem and instead of quitting he realized his faults and decided to go back to high school the following year. Today he is now trying to finish up his senior year while pursuing his bodybuilding career. Austin was never the type of guy to play the Victim; did he, sometimes yes. We all do at some point, but as he's grown up, I've noticed that he has stopped making excuses and has acknowledged his faults and instead found a different path to reach his goals. Now he is planning to go into a weightlifting tournament later this year, and that is why Austin is a Creator.
After consideration of what I wanted to be when I grew up, I decided I wanted to be an animator. To achieve this in college, I need a Fine Arts degree. This semester I am only taking two classes to test the waters, but after this semester I plan to take more art classes like Drawing and Animation. I will pass all my classes by paying attention in them and taking good notes. If I fail a class, I must meet with my teacher and look over my practices to find what went wrong and make changes accordingly. I will also never let my personal life distract me from my goals, and most importantly, if things do go wrong, I will never blame others and instead figure out how I can get back on track and excel.
Works Cited
Mirman, David. Do you think like a Victim or a Creator? You are the Prime Mover. 2012. http://youaretheprimemover.com/2012/do-you-think-like-a-victim-or-a-creator. Accessed 20 Sep. 2017.
Skip, Downing. On Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life. 7th ed., Wadsworth publishing, 2014.