Studies show that many learners feel resistant to or otherwise under-prepared for learning challenges due to underdeveloped ability to self-regulate or adapt thoughts, feelings, and actions to attain their own personal goals. This narrative account illustrates pathways and pitfalls in evoking such behavior and encouraging self-authorship—the internal defining of beliefs, identity and relationships. The author describes a project in which an initially resistant student generated creative, if short-lived, solutions to personal struggles. Helpful educational interventions included questioning behavioral patterns, establishing high expectations, and reinforcing belief in ability to change. Oversights and missed opportunities included unintentionally inviting mimicry and remaining ignorant of researched practices for fostering transformation
