Students who are motivated are often pushed to do well by their parents or know what they want for their future.

Education and psychology identify two basic classifications of motivation – intrinsic and extrinsic.

Intrinsic motivation arises from a desire to learn about a topic due to its inherent interest, for self-fulfillment, enjoyment or to achieve mastery of a subject.  Intrinsic motivation comes from inside an individual rather than from any external expectations, such as money or good grades.

Extrinsic motivation is motivation to perform and succeed for the sake of accomplishing a specific result or outcome fueled in part by outside rewards.

High school counselor, Donna Ramos, said, “ A motivated student is self-directed.   She knows what she wants to do in life.  She is driven, and she does not let outside influences get in the way of what she wants.

“The three frequent distractions in unmotivated students are significant others, social media and friends,” said Ramos.

Distractions can be a problem for unmotivated students.  When they do not have the incentive to do much, they move onto other things that have no significance to school.  Distractions can work as an escape from reality when dealing with problems in school.

Sophomore Jenna Masu-Lee said, “I usually get distracted by social media because when I don’t understand something, I get bored.  When I get bored, I do other things to get my mind off it, and it causes me to forget what I was supposed to do.”

Motivating unmotivated students can prove to be difficult but if accomplished, has a positive effect.  When students are motivated, they are capable of accomplishing a task, which in turn, will make them believe that they can do it.  This leads towards a future of success.

“I believe that everyone is motivated to do something.  My job is to help students find what they want to do in life and support them to do their best and to keep on trying,” said Ramos.

Junior Innika Pang agreed.  “I think that with hard work and confidence anything is possible.  When you have the drive to succeed, I believe that is what sets a motivated student apart from an unmotivated student.”

If students can get onto the right path with the support of trusted adults, they can succeed.

Senior Kelly Lam said, “I think that an unmotivated student is someone who has not set a goal for herself.  When she does not have a goal to reach, then she can never seem to care much.”

Steps to becoming motivated include clearing up clutter and remaining organized, getting rid of unnecessary and unrelated thoughts, making sure one is not disturbed by outside distractions, and aligning energy toward completing a specific task.  Following these steps to becoming motivated can help students to be more focused on the task at hand.