Student Statements from their Letters to a Friend
(entries in the writing contest at Stony Brook University)

Summer 2013 SMART GRID Learning to Learn Institute

Growth/Self-Growth

...grow in ways you never had imagined... – Trey

...Self-growth is a huge part of this program... – Aaron

...I have recognized the self-growth within me... – Helaea

...A self-grower is someone who has achieved a higher level of motivation, intrinsic motivation to be exact. It means that they no longer need someone to push them to go forward, instead they are the ones in control, and they make the critical choices for themselves... – Nathan

...Each one of us has and will always have room to grow and strengthen ourselves as students of life... – Liam

...it is simple to learn and grow... – Dariel

...it taught me how to grow and learn to learn from myself... – Joshua

Personal Transformation

...By the end of the camp, I was a completely different person... – Jimmy

...I actually grew as a student, and a person... – Umair

...I grew so much in the past week. I stopped procrastinating as much. I tried to become more motivated, and finally, I become the leader I always knew I could be... – Reese

...This camp is definitely a successful attempt to aid students in proving the impossible. Making them truly see their full potentials... – Raheel

...This program literally changed my life!... – Joshua

Self-Assessment

...become more of a self-assessor rather than a self-evaluator... – Trey

...methodology and self-assessments helped me gain the courage and plan for public speaking... – Tamara

...self-assessing and self-growth are two aspects that each person should have in their life time... – Oscar

Learning to Learn

...increase your performance as a learner... – Trey

...You will learn not only how to be a better learner, but they will show you who you are as a person, and then what you could do to enhance yourself... – Nicholas

...how much I have been able to strengthen my learning potential in just these four days... – Nina

...This program has provided me with much insight on what I can do in the future to become a successful learner not only in college but also in life... – Supa

...The truth of the matter is that we did in fact grow as learners... – Jing

...It is a great feeling to finally know the correct way to learn and to study for classes in college... – Helaena

Learning Skills

...Not only did we learn that these less-practiced skills were essential in life and beyond college, we also engaged in activities meant to reinforce other fundamental life skills... – Liam

...I learned so many useful skills... – Tamara

...teach you skills on key area you are looking to improve in... – Nicholas

...Utilizing these skills will be totally helpful later in life and help to elevate me as a person... – Ryan

Critical Thinking

...made me critically think for every minute of the day... – Michael

...forced to critically think about critically thinking... – Umair

...taught us how to answer critical thinking questions... – Reese

...Definitely do not be afraid to ask questions, everyone around you are wishing for you to succeed and if you put the effort in, you will... – Kevin

...develop the learning skills required for high level thinking and will transform you into a positive self-grower... – Tony

Efficacy, Self-image, and
Self-Awareness

...has taught me more about myself as a person, and I have learned to self-assess myself... – Oscar

...If you have confidence and believe in yourself you will pass the program with flying colors... – Gabrielle

...it brought out the truth of our self identities... – Raheel

Teamwork and Community

...I have come from being unsure of myself in group work and sharing my ideas to being a real team asset, participant, and even leader... – Nina

...met many culturally diverse students who were very intelligent and worked very hard... – Oscar

...In groups there are no limits to what you can do... – Allen

...you’ll have to work really hard and improve your teamwork, collaboration, and communication... –  Bruno

Risk-taking and Leveraging Failure

...not only did we learn to take risks and use them to grow, we applied what we learned to larger scale activities and developed techniques that would inevitably aid us in the real world... – Liam

...When something bad happens .... going to learn from it, adapt from it, grow from it... – Reese

...open to know concepts and willing to take risk... – Tylene

Accepting Challenge and Learning to Self-Challenge

...makes you challenge yourself and honestly analyze your learning tendencies... – Nina

...This program is about you making the personal decision to extend yourself as high as you can possibly can go. ... Once you have that motivation, all the skills and knowledge will follow... – unsigned

...a program that is mentally, physically and emotionally challenging... – Wesley

...push on and become the best that you can be so that you can be prepared for anything... – Gabrielle

...It expanded my horizons from somewhere and something I never knew I could reach, I saw a different me, and I was finally getting out of my comfort zone for once... – Raheel

...it is easy to stay in your comfort zone but nothing different or exciting happens in your comfort zone. It should be called the uncomfortable zone because you are stuck at a standstill... – Tylene

Preparation and Becoming
a Self-Starter

...completing all readings assigned in for homework because it will allow you to be better prepared the next day in class so that you can contribute to your group activities... – Gabrielle

...it's for you to grow yourself; and for you to decide how much you want to grow by setting your own performance criterion and goals... – Allen

...you want to be able to learn by yourself and be proactive in that learning process... – Wesley

Time Management and Productivity

...Prioritizing your objective to get the maximum potential is key to success... – Wesley

...I started assign6ments earlier; getting one a little bit at a time rather than procrastination... – Helaena

...manage your time, and do not let yourself procrastinate... – Kevin

...I learned about time management, prioritizing, and how to not procrastinate... – Bruno

Methodologies

...You have the ability to do and learn anything you would like as long as you have a plan and use one of the many methodologies taught at this camp... – Dariel

...In this program I learned many methodologies and tips to help me out with that huge problem!... – Bruno

...The activities teach us important... variety of methodology methods... – Tony 

Change in Attitudes
and Values

...with the right attitude, anything can be fun... – Jimmy

...I came into the realization that I want to improve... – Jimmy

...I was always beating myself over mistakes that I made. The program aided me in stopping these destructive tendencies and changing my mentality to "what should I do better next time... – Aaron

...The institute digs down to the foundation of what makes you, you... – Michael

Overall Experience

...My experience in the program was amazing... – Tamara

...has taught me more than I expected... – Umair

...I really appreciate that this program has given me the opportunity to do so but I would have like more... – Jing

...The experience, understanding and skill base attained just by attending this camp is priceless and sets up infinite possibilities for your future... – Joshua