Practice Makes Perfect

James Paul Gee’s practice principle highlights that it is significant to practice things you are interested in. Gee indicates that those spending lots of time on certain tasks that they enjoy and consistently practicing things that do not bore them will ultimately lead to their success. The practice principle resonates with me the most because I use it most frequently in my everyday life. I would like to say all the skills I have acquired are through practice. I believe everything I have gained a deep sense of knowledge on I have done so through thorough practice over a prolonged time. When practicing something boring or of little interest to you, staying motivated and wanting to advance in the task becomes hard. I enjoy drawing and painting. However, this skill did not come to me overnight. It took consistent practice and redos to finally achieve pieces of art I am satisfied with. My interest in getting better motivated me to continue making sketches, whether they came out how I wanted them to. This artistic literacy takes time and practice but allows me to understand the necessity of “trial and error.”Gee also mentions the ongoing learning principle, which, in my opinion, is necessary to ensure success. Our minds and ideas constantly grow as we grow; thus, we never stop learning. Personally, an example that relates to my daily life would be trends and social media in general. As time moves on, social media and trends continue to change, which, in turn, we adapt to. When social media evolves, and new media is created, I grow with it and unlearn old habits to get used to new ones. Developing a mastery of a certain skill by using ongoing learning and practice goes hand in hand. You need both to be successful, and both consist of working on something that gives you purpose and redefines what that purpose means to you.