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Tailwinds and Headwinds

by Abigail Norton | October 01, 2018

It was a sunny Saturday in 2011 and Dr. Troy Cox's chores were done. He was anxious to go mountain biking.

On the trail, he began the long-awaited climb up a well-worn path. That's when his heart started racing, and he couldn't catch his breath. Then the first cyclist passed him. Heart still racing, he forged on. Then a second person, creeping up behind, then passing him. Heart pounding, Dr. Cox pedaled and watched as a hiker passed him. Something was wrong. He peered down at the heart rate monitor on his bike. The read: 220 BPM. Dr. Cox thinks to say a prayer and the answer is clear, go home. Back at home, Dr. Cox lays on his bed, heart still pounding. He knows he needs to go to the hospital. Several hours later he's diagnosed with atrial fibrillation: an irregular and rapid heart rate that occurs when the heart's two upper chambers beat out of coordination with the two lower chambers.

Dr. Cox acknowledged how frightening the experience was during his September Disciple Scholar lecture, "Tailwinds and Headwinds: Stretching Yourself Both Spiritually and Academically." Dr. Cox is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics and the Associate Director of the Center for Language Studies. He is passionate about language, learning, and cycling – three unifying themes during his lecture. Dr. Cox also discussed the ILR Scale or ACTFL Proficiency guidelines for language and how they relate to life.

During a recent ride up Hobble Creek Canyon, Dr. Cox was amazed at how easy the ride was. That's when he felt the tailwind, propelling him forward. He says he was grateful for the tailwind, even when he didn't recognize it was there. However, Dr. Cox acknowledges there aren't always tailwinds to push us forward. In fact, many times there are headwinds pushing us back. Dr. Cox's frightening encounter with atrial fibrillation was a reminder for him of the headwinds we encounter in life and how they shape us.

The effects of headwinds are vast, and include many of the following:

  • Our performance is worse than our true ability
  • We can underestimate our true ability
  • We might feel the universe is against us
  • We confuse performance and proficiency
  • We might quit

Dr. Cox compared headwinds to making progress in learning a foreign language. "Awkward and ugly are part of the process," he said. Yet, the opposition can result in growth with deliberate practice. Dr. Cox urged attendees to push through the headwinds and utilize the resources we have to overcome obstacles that may stand in our way. "If we actually outride the wind we can create a headwind," said Dr. Cox.

Dr. Cox is married and is the proud father of Cameron, Hannah, and Millie. When he isn't cycling, practicing yoga, experimenting in the kitchen or with a camera, you can find him in his office where he works with graduate students and colleagues conducting research in language testing, language acquisition, self-assessment, and objective measurement.

In 1994, Dr. Cox graduated cum laude from Brigham Young University with a BA in Linguistics. He received his MA in Teaching English as a Second Language from BYU and completed his Master's Thesis on "The effect of prequestions, proficiency level and passage length on listening comprehension test scores." Dr. Cox went on to earn his Ph.D. in Instructional Psychology and Technology from BYU. He wrote his Dissertation on "Investigating prompt difficulty in an automatically scored speaking performance assessment."