What is success? Why is it important? Is being successful everything? Are these good questions to ask? Sure. I would say so but they aren’t the most important questions to ask. I think the most important question to ask yourself is where you learn the true meaning of success? There are various places in which you can learn how to reach success at least in the respective work environment. Now, another question does school efficiently prepare students in order to be successful adults? 

               My answer- No. Even though being on the more popular side of this argument. I do have research to back up my opinions. According to the 2005 article, “Successful Inclusive Practices In Middle And Secondary Schools”, schools teach important life skills such as “responsibility,” “impulse controls,” and “communication skills”. What the article does not mention are the classes or subjects that teach these important life skills. I bet every student has heard the term “high school is mandatory. It prepares you for college which prepares you for a successful life” or at least something along those lines. How do chemistry, biology, and physics help an English major? How a lecture room, with over 80 college students helps with communication skills when you can’t actually get to know your professors? 

               Easy answer – it doesn’t. Students are taught to think that it does though. And the article even states on page 43 “… the creation of small learning communities that allow for connections and personalization among both staff and students”. Smaller classrooms with around 25-30 other students would benefit you much more than a classroom with 100 other students. I know it is not the most practical solution. So, what else can they, the teachers and board of education do for us, the students? One method could be trying self-directed learning, for example at my high school we are given the option of doing a blended course which is basically some days you come into class and work from there and the other days you are responsible for getting your work done on time. I was taught at a young age that I am responsible for my grades and my only job is to do well in school so, I’ll be successful in the future when I have my own family. I have lived with these principles for 17 years and now I’m starting to doubt them. If I am doing well in school why am I so unhappy? Why does everyone seem like they’re in a better place than me? 

               Not an easy question to answer. I still haven’t found a solution but I’ve realized that success can have so many different meanings. The thought of a good future shifted my focus from mental and emotional success to be successful in academics and extracurriculars. For the last three years, I have worked my mind and body to the limit. And now, I am exhausted. I’ve woken up at 3 in the morning exhausted because of the crazy amount of homework, I tried to get done in between my 15-minute breaks at work, from the night before. Personally, I am not successful. I haven’t reached that point in time when I am happy with myself and what I’m doing. So, what is success? By my definition, it is when you reach the height of happiness in your workplace, school and even mentally/emotionally. Why is being successful important? Because everybody has an internal balance when you are upset or hurt it is an indicator that one of the fields of success has not been fulfilled. Is being successful everything? Short answer – yes (to me it is). Long answer – yes, because success is what every human strives for their entire life. Just the definition of success is different per person. 

Works Cited

Villa, Richard A., et al. “Successful Inclusive Practices in Middle and Secondary Schools.” American Secondary Education, vol. 33, no. 3, 2005, pp. 33–50. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41064553.