Project 1
Individual Performance Improvement Plan:
Rudy
Plot Summary
The movie Rudy is a true story about a guy named Rudy Ruettiger who has dreamed all his life to play football for Notre Dame. He lives in a steel mill town, where he and almost everyone else in town works at the mill. After his best friend dies in an accident at the steel mill, he realized he had to fulfill his dream. However, he doesn't have the money for tuition or good enough grades for a scholarship. His football skills also aren't the best. On the other hand, he has more heart and spirit than anyone else on the team. He has to overcome many things like dyslexia and the approval of his brother. The rest of the movie is showing his progress and struggle as he fights for a spot to play for Notre Dame.
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Motivation
Rudy has a lot of motivation in the movie. He is motivated both internally and externally. His biggest motivation is external. This is when his best friend, Pete, gets killed in an accident at the steel mill where they both work. Rudy then realized that he has to go follow his dream of playing football for Notre Dame before it's too late.
Most of his motivation is internal. All his life, people have been telling Rudy that he can't play football at all, let alone for Notre Dame. When he was a kid, his friends teased him about how small he was and that he couldn't play. Even when he told his parents that he wanted to play, they just laughed at him. His teachers at school told him he wasn't smart enough to go to college and everyone knew he would work at the steel mill with his father and older brothers. Only Pete believed that he could achieve his dream. So this is why his motivation had to be internal. He knew that he could play. He was highly motivated to go to Notre Dame and be on the team. There was a record of a Notre Dame coach talking to the team before a game that motivated Rudy as a child and an adult.
Most of his motivation is internal. All his life, people have been telling Rudy that he can't play football at all, let alone for Notre Dame. When he was a kid, his friends teased him about how small he was and that he couldn't play. Even when he told his parents that he wanted to play, they just laughed at him. His teachers at school told him he wasn't smart enough to go to college and everyone knew he would work at the steel mill with his father and older brothers. Only Pete believed that he could achieve his dream. So this is why his motivation had to be internal. He knew that he could play. He was highly motivated to go to Notre Dame and be on the team. There was a record of a Notre Dame coach talking to the team before a game that motivated Rudy as a child and an adult.
Source: YouTube.com
Arousal/Anxiety
In the movie, Rudy seems to be a highly aroused person. He is always trying to do something, whether improving his game or his grades. He is very easily aroused. Even when he was in a low state of arousal after his best friend died, he quickly became highly aroused when he realized he had to go chase his dream.
Rudy had a lot of anxiety when he kept getting rejected by Notre Dame. He became very angry, but he kept pushing through and didn't let his anxiety get the best of him. Finally, with a lot of frustration and anxiety, he got accepted.
Rudy had a lot of anxiety when he kept getting rejected by Notre Dame. He became very angry, but he kept pushing through and didn't let his anxiety get the best of him. Finally, with a lot of frustration and anxiety, he got accepted.
Source: YouTube.com
Cooperation/Competition
Rudy was part of a football team, so of course, he used cooperation throughout the movie. However, his teammates did not show a lot of cooperation towards him when he made it as a walk-on. He put forth so much effort, they often got angry at him.
Competition was also something that Rudy had to go through his whole life. He had many siblings, and he was forced to compete with them his whole life to prove that he could be a success. They always teased him and told him that he wasn't good enough to achieve what he wanted to and he should stop dreaming.
Competition was also something that Rudy had to go through his whole life. He had many siblings, and he was forced to compete with them his whole life to prove that he could be a success. They always teased him and told him that he wasn't good enough to achieve what he wanted to and he should stop dreaming.
Source: youtube.com
Feedback/Reinforcement
Apart from Rudy's brothers and father giving him a hard time and not believing in him, he had several people in his life that provided positive reinforcement as well. These were the people that really helped him get on the right path throughout the film. One of these people was his best friend, Pete. As I mentioned earlier, he always believed in him and encouraged him to keep believing in his dreams. Another person that gave him reinforcement was the priest at Notre Dame. He got Rudy into Holy Cross Junior College so he could make good enough grades to get into Notre Dame. Also his friend D-Bob, a graduate student at Notre Dame and a teaching assistant at Rudy's junior college, who offers to tutor Rudy in exchange for help in meeting girls. Suspecting an another cause to Rudy's previous academic problems, D-Bob has him tested and Rudy finds out that he has dyslexia. Rudy learns how to overcome his disability and becomes a better student because of D-Bob. The person who had the most influence on him in the movie would have to be Fortune. Fortune was a Notre Dame stadium groundskeeper. Rudy volunteered to work for free with Fortune and the other groundskeepers just to be able to stand on the Notre Dame football field. Having no place to live, Rudy sneaks in and out of Fortune's office at night through a window and sleeps on a cot. At first, Fortune was indifferent toward Rudy but later provides him with blankets for the cot and a key of his own to the office. At the end, when Rudy wanted to quit because he couldn't play in the last game, Fortune talked to him and persuaded him not to quit the team.
Source: Youtube.com
Improving Weaknesses
Rudy does not have very many weaknesses in this movie. One of his weaknesses was his dyslexia. After his friend D-Bob recognized it, Rudy was able to learn how to live with it and manage it. Another part in the movie that showed his weakness was at the end whenever he gave up (what the last video clip showed. He tried for so long and kept believing and pushing through, but he got to the very end and thought that he did it all for nothing. So he got angry and quit. He could improve this by thinking of all the things he had accomplished, which Fortune pointed out to him in the last video clip. He played with the Notre Dame footbal team for two years and will be getting a degree from the University of Notre Dame. Those are things that he could focus on to keep him motivated to stay on the team.
Using Strengths
Rudy has many strengths in this movie. One of those strengths is his motivation. Even when people put him down, he can still be enthusiastic and motivated to reach his goals. He used this to his advantage whenever his father or brothers told him he could never play football for Notre Dame and laughed at him. Even his school teachers told him that he could never go to college and that working at the steel mill with his father and brothers would be a good thing for him. Many people would have given up right then. But Rudy didn't. He kept going to prove them wrong. This is why motivation was his most powerful strength.