Weekly Blog
Weekly Blog 6 | SDT
This week we’re assigned to reflect on the Self Determination Theory proposed by Deci and Ryan (2000) as to how we satisfy the three psychological aspects–autonomy, competence and relatedness–academically.
Autonomy—Being a transfer student at ODU this year will my third attempt at completing a college degree. I don’t know how I don’t give up, but no matter the obstacles, I feel this deep sense to try again because I know I won’t succeed if I don’t keep trying. It took me some time to fully realize I am in control of myself, and in doing so it fueled my already existing goal for myself to pursue knowledge, continuing to grow and develop as a human being.
Competence—after overcoming many personal challenges and obstacles, I started to feel empowered in my ability to do anything I set my mind to. Again, it took some time to gain a level of confidence in my academic ability after always feeling inept and detrimentally comparing myself to others, but once I built the momentum it kept going. Now even when I’m low energy, I keep pushing on because I know I have the competence and problem solving skills to work through the challenges of college and life in general.
I chose this picture to represent autonomy and competence as a humorous example because he looks so confident in his ability to walk himself. But also relatedness, because although it looks like he can do it on his own, he still has his human companion for support.
Relatedness—in my search for a sense of belonging, I have joined clubs to get a sense of which interests I feel more committed to participate in. Ideally, I would have liked to attend clubs and social gatherings on-campus but that is not possible given the pandemic. I would love to find study groups and people to share ideas and discuss topics with. Since I’m new to the area and this school, transferring in the midst of a pandemic has made the social and connecting aspect of the academic experience difficult. However, fostering a support system over the years has also helped me feel positive and confident in myself as well.