Free Academic And Professional Success Essay Sample

Transition in and from education into and across professional space is a process learners and professionals continue to meditate. Indeed, as far back as individuals started learning and joining a modern workspace, developing fundamental skills for academic and professional success has been a question of debate by educators, learners and broader communities. Interagency panels are created to discuss "essential" skill development at school and workplace. There is, in fact, a growing body of literature on academic success and professional development. If anything, students and professionals continue to engage in learning and development processes which, hopefully, are aimed at better academic performance and professional achievement. Transition process remains, still, an uneasy process, if not inaccessible for many. A deeper understanding of goal setting process as well writing skills, at academic and professional levels, is required for a better understanding of not only how academic success and professional achievement could materialize but also to help highlight main areas of inefficiencies. This paper aims, hence, to explore goal-setting and writing process as part of a longer process of academic and professional success.
Goal-setting cannot, in fact, be emphasized as a critical process in a longer one of academic and professional engineering process. Based on evidence from an increasing body of research, goal setting is not only critical for success but is a fundamental step in managing expectations and advancement (Hsiaw, 2013). That is, by setting goals progress in activity conduction becomes possible as opposed to a present-bound attitude by which, if goal is not achieved early on, activity interruption and failure become a very expected outcome. Accordingly, goal setting is a critical a priori step in academic progress and professional development. A structured process, moreover, is required for goal setting and a more systematic process of goal achievement. For current purposes, specific goals are discussed as an illustration of how goals – and goal-setting – is critical in academic success and professional development.
This paper's author identifies knowledge base enhancement as an educational goal and a regular 3-month development plan as a professional goal.
As an educational goal, knowledge base enhancement is one critical – ongoing – goal for better academic achievement. By knowledge base enhancement is meant enhancing knowledge in specific areas and/or disciplines. Admittedly, education is one most critical step in professional development process. During education phase, learners acquire fundamental knowledge and learning habits which are picked up differentially later at work and during professional development. Further, by enhancing knowledge repertoire in a more systemic fashion prior to – or in a more focused manner during a career as part of professional development – building up on acquired base becomes a much smoother process. Not least, by full and focused immersion in a learning context, learners can not only progress in learning process in a systematic and uninterrupted manner – an essential requirement for knowledge acquisition and establishment – but will also be at a better competitive advantage compared to peers who will not be as informed when opting, later, for professional development programs. Thus, systematic acquisition of knowledge is one critical step into successful professional careers as earlier insights are development prior to joining workforce or as a professional career is resumed.
As a professional goal, a 3-month development plan could be set. In fact, no one more significant goal in any professional career, author believes, than professional development. Thus, significance of a regular 3-month development plan cannot be overemphasized. This should not – as is usually be perceived – be confined to formal development offerings but should, instead be expanded into broader forms of learning. Notably, peer learning, for example, has come to be considered as one most critical mean of not only professional development but also advancement. In a 3-month development plan, peer learnings could be documented in daily notes of insights developed, accidently or gradually, during a professional activity conduction. This is not important, moreover, for skill content developed over a course of professional engagement as insights and learning outcomes accumulate only abut also for side skills picked in one context and could be exploited in a different context. That is, in a process of peer learning, one possible developed "main" skill is a specialized component of a skill, gained by accidental or gradual accumulation. For a side skill, how one skill is developed could be just as crucial. Indeed, cross-learning is one concept which is used increasingly to highlight skills migration, so to speak, from one learning context to another. This insight is, in fact, supported by a growing body of research which refers to what is known as "professional agility" defined as "a characteristic possessed by individuals who are able to consistently perform the work of their chosen profession with passion, vigor, facility and satisfaction" (Baruch, Grimland & Vigoda-Gadot, 2014). Put differently, professional success – and satisfaction – according to study – can be achieved by a professional agility which can only be achieved by knowledge bases and skill contents capable – according to a cross-learning conceptualization – of migration from one context, academic or professional, to another. Thus, a 3-monthdevelopment plan is career goal which can help develop professional agility and, ultimately, success.
A well-grounded discussion of academic achievement and career development cannot be complete without writing. Indeed, writing is an indispensible communication mode in lack of which much learning and professional development cannot be achieved. To be able to write effectively means – in academic and professional contexts – a capacity for not only of self-expression but also advancement. This paper's author, for example, has managed, via writing, to not only achieve higher grades but, most significantly, developing new side skills. Again, writing is a complex process in which, like cross-learning, associated skills are picked and which might be exploited later in different contexts. This paper's author, for example, has managed via writing to not only enhance mechanical and stylistic skills but, most significantly, to interpret written content into visual formats and vice verse. That is, by learning to write effectively, paper's author is better able to consume visual representations and capture meanings more eloquently on paper.
Congruent to a discussion of writing skills is critical thinking. Indeed, writing effectively can never be a complete process unless performed in a critical fashion (Preiss, Castillo, Flotts & San Martín, 2013). The very process of managing writing process is, in fact, an instance of critical thinking par excellence. By grouping sub-processes of writing process, writing outcome becomes a well-crafted and systematic process of thought documentation. This can be achieved by planning writing process. First, a research process is performed in which an individual or group process of brainstorming for ideas is conducted. Next, research findings are grouped into similar categories. Then, developed into more meaningful statements, main ideas are generated. Then, refining processes are performed as required. The final outcome is, eventually, reviewed before final delivery. Understandably, many sub-processes are involved. Yet, schematically, writing, if understood as illustrated, becomes one significant instance of critical thinking. Thus, based on a cross-learning conceptualization, critical thinking becomes a critical skill which could be migrated into different contexts. This paper's author has managed, for example, to manage an application process for an internship opportunity based on a similar conceptualization: research, grouping, proposal main concept generation, refinements and final delivery.
Throughout, a range of resources are used. University resources remain one most critical instance. These include university's library, writing center and academic advisors. Less direct resources include classmates and on-campus social events. Yet, more interestingly is how paper's author has used sources external to university in order to achieve academic and professional goals. A sailing trip is one instance author has exploited to carry over a learning outcome from a recreational context into a learning one. By gaining navigational insights from steering a motor boat, in a first sailing trip, paper's author has learned to set up academic and professional goals as sign posts. More specifically, by sensing firsthand how high water can become very risky and might lead to way loss, writing without planning can lead one astray.
In conclusion, goal-setting and writing process are discussed as steps leading to academic and professional success. Goal-setting is a critical pre-requisite for academic and professional advancement . Two goals, one academic and one professional, are identified namely knowledge base enhancement and a 3-month development plan. A discussion of writing skill significance follows and is shown to be an instance of critical thinking. Finally, benefits and challenges of using outside sources are briefly discussed.

References

Baruch, Y., Grimland, S., & Vigoda-Gadot, E. (2014). Professional vitality and career success: Mediation, age and outcomes. European Management Journal, 32(3), 518–527. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/
Hsiaw, A. (2013). Goal-setting and self-control. Journal of Economic Theory, 148(2), 601–626. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/
Preiss, D., Castillo, C., Flotts, P., & San Martín, E. (2013). Assessment of argumentative writing and critical thinking in higher education: Educational correlates and gender differences. Learning and Individual Differences, 28, 193–203. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/