Gavin Lopes

[seanelliott39896]

Sean's Calendar

In the article “What it takes to be great” by Geoffrey Colvin, Colvin provides examples and claims of what the so called “elite” or “greats” of their profession or hobby, go through on a daily basis for years, which consists of hard work, dedication, and consistency. Colvin claims, “In many fields (music, literature) elite performers need 20 to 30 years’ experience before hitting their zenith” (10). He shows that not only is practice but repetition or consistency, separates those who dream and those who do. Colvin later discusses the legendary rigorous practice routines great athletes push themselves through in order to perform at the highest levels (20). Colvin ends the article with this, “Maybe we can’t expect most people to achieve greatness. It’s just too demanding. But the striking, liberating news is that greatness isn’t reserved for a preordained few. It is available to you and to everyone” (36). Greatness is not meant for everyone, some people just do not have the drive or need to be special which is okay, but the possibility is out there for everyone.

    Colvin presents research suggesting that lots of deliberate practice is what separates those who are “elite” in their specific fields.  This research finding does appy to me because when I first started playing water polo I would throw the ball like a football. In water polo that is bad because it’s hard to catch a ball that does not have backspin, so every night after practice I would go home lay on my bed and practice flicking my wrist to get backspin on the ball. Colvin claims, “[C]ontinually observing results and making appropriate adjustments, and doing that for hours everyday” (13). If an athlete has bad form and they think if they continuously practice that they will get better, than that’s what will separate them from an athlete who realizes their form is bad, so this athlete continuously practices the correct form to make it muscle memory. Deliberate practice is not just physical activity, the greatest of athletes study all aspects of their sports for the same amount of time they train, this is the biggest separation factor. Colvin asks,”Two athletes might work equally hard, but what explains the ability of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to perform at a higher level in the last two minutes of a game?” (16). This is where athletes fall short of each other, for instance a quarterback as high caliber as Brady, obviously puts in lots of work, but what people do not notice about brady is that he spends more time working on two minute situations, when the Patriots are losing. But also he puts lots of time in the film room, studying what he did wrong, what he did good, the next team he is going to play, and hall of fame quarterback that he can learn from. Because he realizes there is always room for improvement.

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday FridaySaturday 6:30 AMPractice SleepSleepSleepSleepSleepPractice 7:30 AMPractice SleepPracticeSleepPracticeSleepPractice 8:30 AMPractice SleepPracticeSleepPracticeSleepPractice 9:30 AMPractice RestPractice/ShowerRestPractice/ShowerRestPractice 10:30 AMRestRestPyschologyRestPsychologyRestRest 11:30 AMRestSpanishPyschologySpanishPsychologyRestRest 12:30 PMRestSpanishPyschologySpanishPsychologyRestRest 1:30 PMRestSpanishEnglishSpanishEnglish RestRest 2:30 PMRestSpanishEnglishGame English Hw/StudyRest 3:30 PMRestHw/Study Hw/Study Game Hw/StudyHw/StudyRest 4:30 PMRestHw/Study Hw/Study Hw/Study Hw/StudyHw/StudyRest 5:30 PMRestHw/Study Hw/Study Hw/Study Hw/StudyHw/StudyRest 6:30 PMRestHw/Study Practice Hw/Study Practice Practice Rest 7:30 PMRestPractice Practice Practice Practice Practice Rest 8:30 PMRestPractice Practice Practice Practice Practice Rest 9:30 PMHw/StudyPractice Practice Practice Practice Practice Rest 10:30 PMHw/StudySleepSleepSleepSleepSleepHw/Study 11:30 PMHw/StudySleepSleepSleepSleepSleepHw/Study 12:30 AMSleepSleepSleepSleepSleepSleepHw/Study 1:30 AMSleepSleepSleepSleepSleepSleepSleep 2:30 AMSleepSleepSleepSleepSleepSleepSleep 3:30 AMSleepSleepSleepSleepSleepSleepSleep 4:30 AMSleepSleepSleepSleepSleepSleepSleep 5:30 AMSleepSleepSleepSleepSleepSleepSleep

Although he doesn’t say so directly, Briceño would likely approve of my calendar because I get a good amount of sleep every night, I left lots of time for studying and homework.  Briceño states, “[U]pon reflection we can gain aha-moments on how to improve, such as realizing we’re better at certain tasks after a good night’s sleep” (11). Rest or sleep is the most important aspect of an individual’s life. Performance of any tasks can be affected by the lack of sleep and/or rest. Incorporation of of sleep and rest periods in a daily basis is crucial. Briceño expresses, “Then let’s go back to spending most of our time practicing, challenging ourselves…” (14). If we have lots of time to study and do homework we can practice the mistakes we make throughout the studying process. Homework is a way of studying because it’s meant to have the information given to stick, and if the homework is on something one struggled on, it’s the perfect learning/improvement activity.

[gavinlopes97-blog]

How you train as a water polo player is living proof that deliberate practice does work!

[persnicketypapp-blog]

Deliberate Practice Blog

      The central focus of Geoffrey Colvin‘s article “What it Takes to be Great” published in Fortune Magazine is to explore the research as to why natural talent is not the key to success, it is hard work. Colvin notes that researchers were curious about what makes someone achieve greatness, is it a natural talent that we are born with? That led them to study not only Major athletes like Tiger Woods but also successful musicians and businessmen like Luciano Pavarotti, Chopin, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates among others. While many believe that we are born with a natural talent or ability that was already there, researchers and Colvin conclude that a specific natural talent does not exist, greatness is earned through hard work dedicating yourself to scrupulously improving through deliberate practice. To support his argument, Colvin shares several scientific studies (done since 1993 by Ericsson and his two colleagues) and examples of individuals throughout history who were famously known for their accomplishments and the innumerable amount of time that was spend to hone their skills. Ultimately, Colvin presents this information to Fortune and the public at large, so that they can remove the false vail of belief that success is something you are gifted at birth and rethink your methods towards your own greatness.

   Colvin presents research suggesting that deliberate practice is the actual key to success. This research finding does apply to me because it is similar to how I approach my daily life. I have always been a firm believer in the concept of hard work is what gets the job done. No individual is born with more knowledge than another; we are all born into a level playing field. It is through hard work and diligence that we better ourselves and achieve greatness. According to Colvin, “You will achieve greatness only through an enormous amount of hard work over many years, also that it must be deliberate practice, involving maliciously fine tuning your skill and narrowing down your weakness’ then spending thousands of hours over almost a decade to become great.” Colvin’s theory of deliberate practice is extremely useful because it sheds light on the difficult problem of how we go about becoming successful. Though Colvin does not focus on this aspect of how as much, I feel it is the most import point he makes. He gives some good examples of how many different types of people, in different fields use the method of not just practicing but studying how well you do and adjusting the approach to continuously improve. I think this is the key to know how to do better as you go. In my experience I approached learning a new skill with the idea that, if I simply just keep trying I will get the desired results, unbeknownst to me that observing how well I do or what areas need more attention was important.  Just relentlessly practicing is not specific enough, you need to know what you are skill you are developing, how to advance to the next level and how hard to push.

     Although he doesn’t say so directly Michael E. Martinez would likely approve of my calendar. I use my calendar as a problem solving tool, with the goal in mind, to be organized with my time. For example juggling study time, personal life, classes and making sure I study enough for each class. Martinez himself writes “Problem solving is exercised daily, often continuously, especially in a complex society where following established rules and procedures is not enough to succeed. Problem solving can be defined simply as the pursuit of a goal when the path to that goal is uncertain.” The essence of Martinez’s argument is that even though there may be already established rules and guidelines to help solve a problem, you might have to move beyond those in order to accomplish your personal goals. By creating this calendar and rearranging parts of my life I believe I have set myself on a clear path to achieve greatness.

[gavinlopes97-blog]

Just when i thought i had a busy life, i saw your calendar. That's great that you find time for everything!

[gavinlopes97-blog]

Practice Makes Perfect

The article “What it takes to be great” by Geoffrey Colvin brought to light a certain aspect I personally never took the time to truly think out. In the article, Colvin talks about how natural born talent actually does not exist. However he claims that hard work and extensive practice is what makes someone great at whatever it is that they put their mind to. He references successful figureheads such as Tiger Woods, Warren Buffet, and Winston Churchill, talking about their extreme dedication and deliberate practice is what made them so great in their respective sports and fields.

At first, I was extremely skeptical of this article and was reluctant but while I was reading it I became engaged and was easily able to relate the points, examples, and research with my own life and experiences. I always considered myself a naturally gifted swimmer, I have been swimming competitively ever since I was very young and seemed to always be ahead of other swimmers in my age group. I never thought about why that was really the case until I reflected on the monumental amount of time and effort I have devoted to swimming thousands of hours of practices, entire days spent in the water at one capacity or another, and the great coaches to help me improve. Which furthers the notion that I in fact was not a naturally talented swimmer, but instead a hard worker.

My study schedule may not seem like a whole lot of hours however these hours will be rigorous and I will always be looking for ways to improve my study habits. Attached above is a Calendar of what my weekly schedule can be expected to look like on an easy work schedule. On paragraph 25 in What it takes to be great, Colvin writes “Armed with that mindset, people go at a job in a new way. Research shows they process information more deeply and retain it longer.”  I’ve never been a good student, however I have “adopted a new mindset” and now i’m willing to put in hard effort and deliberate practice to become successful.

[gavinlopes97-blog]

About me

My name is Gavin Lopes, i’m an 18 year old college freshman at Grossmont college and Southwestern College studying to eventually become a firefighter. when i’m not at school or at work i’m usually out hiking with my friends or at the range. i’m an avid shooter and take great pride in the sport/hobby, i also like working on cars, and doing anything and everything aquatic. I currently have 2 jobs and my family and I are in the process of moving to our brand new home in lakeside. MY family consists of Me, My Mom, My sted-dad, my sister, and two dogs who I love more than life itself. I was born and raised right here in San Diego however I have always wanted to live in northern Arizona. mainly because of the beautiful views, good state legislature, and my entire family lives either there, texas, or california. 

[serenagonzalez1-blog]

You sound like you’ve got quite a lot going on but in a great way, it’s great that you have goals set and are working towards them. Have you always known that you’ve wanted to become a firefighter?

[gavinlopes97-blog]

Thank you that means alot! And yeah unfortunately one of my first memories of my early childhood was the events of 9/11, and i was inspired by the courage of those firefighters, figured i should become some of the best.

[gavinlopes97-blog]

About me

My name is Gavin Lopes, i’m an 18 year old college freshman at Grossmont college and Southwestern College studying to eventually become a firefighter. when i’m not at school or at work i’m usually out hiking with my friends or at the range. i’m an avid shooter and take great pride in the sport/hobby, i also like working on cars, and doing anything and everything aquatic. I currently have 2 jobs and my family and I are in the process of moving to our brand new home in lakeside. MY family consists of Me, My Mom, My sted-dad, my sister, and two dogs who I love more than life itself. I was born and raised right here in San Diego however I have always wanted to live in northern Arizona. mainly because of the beautiful views, good state legislature, and my entire family lives either there, texas, or california. 

[shazel7-blog]

Oh my gosh you’re going to be a firefighter?! Me too that’s so cool!!! Have you ever thought about joining a fire explorers program at a station, it’s a really good way to get a leg up in the game. And nice blog excellent wording. 

[gavinlopes97-blog]

Hey were twins that's pretty cool! And no i havent heard about the fire explorer program that's actuallt pretty interesting!

[safariiiilive]

Story Time

Hello my name is Sarah Danby. This is my second year of college. I did take a year off after completing my first year off school. I was working at the Safari Park as a Guest Ambassador, then right around the end of September I applied to Mesa Airlines. I got the job!! Packed up a month’s worth of food and clothes and flew out to Phoenix Arizona and started my training. A month went by and I graduated Flight Attendant school. On graduation day we were given our base assignment I got Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW). So I flew home back to San Diego packed up my car and drove out to DFW. Was flying around for about 3 months when one day I got so fed up with the rudeness of the passengers and quit my job packed up my car again and drove back home in February. And I got my old job back at the Safari Park. And I was working all the time and I was just constantly thinking “am I going to be one of those people that just get stuck at the safari park for life?” One day I received an email from Grossmont saying it’s that time again to enroll in classes, so I did and now I’m here.

I love cheerleading and anything to do with tumbling and being competitive. I started all-cheer in the fourth grade and did it every year until 8th grade when high school came around I made both teams the high school varsity team and a freshman and level 4 all-star cheer. Unfortunately they practiced on the same days at the same time. Knowing that if I quit high school after making the team I couldn’t try out again for two years, I picked high school cheer. Traded in the all-star competitiveness for Friday Night Lights. Senior year I did both teams because I had some extra time on my hands. I made the level 4 team named Wr4th. Our team was very close regardless of the very large age group ages 7-18. In the beginning of the season at our practices we would stick our routine perfectly. But at the first competition of the year our team completely fell apart and ate carpet (the blue mat we compete/practice on… very rough texture sometimes leaving a rug burn in its place). After that our team kicked it in to high gear to get back on top. The next few competitions we received first place and overall best performance. But then just one week before our competition in Vegas my team had a tragedy, one of my teammates got meningitis. She got sick very quickly being in the ICU we couldn’t visit her. The next practice we made her a card to get better soon the whole team signed it. The next morning we got an email stating that Jewel had passed last night in her sleep. I was devastated because the last practice she was at I didn’t attended because of a high school event. My team was once again broken apart, until our coach gave us a new meaning to competition… Do it for Jewel, because she no longer can. At the competition in Vegas my team was the very last team to go on, and we’ve never had a bigger audience than that day. Before we start the music our captain yells “Do it for Jewel” and we all look up to the sky pointing one finger up to Jewel. I don’t think my team has ever hit a routine harder than that day. The news quickly went worldwide that we were doing it for Jewel, that teams from all around the world would post pictures wearing all purple and putting the #DoItForJewel. Our team went on doing every competition for Jewel. That we got a paid bid to Summit, the biggest competition on the year (also the last one). We went to The Summit (cheer worlds for level 4 and below) and my team won! Number 1 out of 900 teams that competed. I missed my senior prom to go to this competition because winning this competition was much bigger than a high school dance. Cheerleading wasn’t always easy and I wasn’t always this dedicated to the sport until I started gaining skill and getting placed on higher level teams. I worked day in and day out in the cheer gym and the regular gym to get to where I am today.

When I first started taking classes and seeing all the older girls flipping across the gym I was just amazed how easy they made it look. And that when I tried doing a backhand-spring I quickly fell into a fixed mindset. And would come to practice no longer motivated to do anything with tumbling. But I am very lucky that I had such supportive coaches and teammates. They would constantly cheer me on and give me new ways to look at how to conquer and new skill. Right after learning the backhand-spring everything after that was a piece of cake.

Here is a link to a tribute of Jewel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

TWIRPPTk61k

And here is a link of Wr4th at Summit, sorry its kinda terrible in the beginning but it gets better as soon as we start.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj390V8peHk

[gavinlopes97-blog]

Both my mom and step-dad are flight attendants for United airlines!

[queguapojustino-blog]

Hey.

Hello all!  This is my first semester back since I took a year off from school.  I am 20 years old with an undecided major currently though I have been thinking about television studio operations.  I work at Fox’s pizza den as a pizza delivery boy.  In my free time, i’m usually found playing D&D with my friends or going to the gym with my girlfriend.  

One of the games that I like to play the most is Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.  It’s a pretty popular e-sport currently even though the community is pretty upset at the current state of the game.  I’ve played the counter strike series since I was in 6th grade and haven’t always been good.  It’s a nature of the game that you’re not gonna learn unless you get defeated a lot.  In this newest iteration of the game, I have invested about 1000 hours practicing and playing.  It has taken a lot of angry matches and petty arguments with upset team mates to overcome my weaknesses as a player and develop into a strong team mate in each match.  This game is basically my hobby.

There were many times on the steep skill hike it took to be better at Counter-Strike.  It is very hard at first when you’re still unsure of how best to play the game.  But, after long and arduous ours of basically just running through similar scenarios and gun fights, then you start to improve your aim and cross hair placement.  Practicing this game in my free time has given me a better growth mindset that I want to carry into my academic career and real life.  It is easy to lose many hours because it’s fun and all the time you spend playing, you’re likely to get better.

This matches up to Dweck’s work when she talked about when coaches asked where all the coach-able players had gone.  I think if players were more willing to accept defeat gracefully as a learning experience but still had the poor feeling of a loss motivate them to train harder for their next match or on a smaller level even the next round or play.

But please, don’t look at me like some nerd, I do plenty outside.  I like to work out at the gym and run.  Above those, I like to go paddle boarding by the beach.  Being on the water on a sunny day or seeking the shade of a bridge and just chilling out listening to, basically, the world happening around you.  It’s especially dope when you get to paddle alongside some seals but you should still be careful.  

Well, that’s about it I guess.  I’m checking the paper and I think this assignment’s about done.  Yup, done.  

[gavinlopes97-blog]

All of my friends play counterstrike and i'm the only one it seems that has never played a match, that's really cool that you have invested alot of time into a pretty interesting hobby.

[gavinlopes97-blog]

About me

My name is Gavin Lopes, i’m an 18 year old college freshman at Grossmont college and Southwestern College studying to eventually become a firefighter. when i’m not at school or at work i’m usually out hiking with my friends or at the range. i’m an avid shooter and take great pride in the sport/hobby, i also like working on cars, and doing anything and everything aquatic. I currently have 2 jobs and my family and I are in the process of moving to our brand new home in lakeside. MY family consists of Me, My Mom, My sted-dad, my sister, and two dogs who I love more than life itself. I was born and raised right here in San Diego however I have always wanted to live in northern Arizona. mainly because of the beautiful views, good state legislature, and my entire family lives either there, texas, or california.