UPenn Psychology Professor Gives Advice to North Shore Students

Angela Duckworth is a leading expert on "grit." Now a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, she taught middle and high school math for many years. Her experience as a teacher led her to ask the question: Do people succeed because they are talented, or because they are willing to work hard? Her studies have found that grittiness — not intelligence alone — is the key to success.

Duckworth defines grit as "sticking with things over the very long term until you master them." On November 29th, she visited North Shore Country Day School and spoke to middle and high school students about how to be gritty in their everyday lives.

Her advice was to focus on mastering one thing, instead of jumping around from interest to interest. Duckworth encouraged students to change how they think about obstacles, reminding them that even if something comes easily to someone else, it's hard work that takes achievement to the next level.