A Measure Of Success

What does it mean to be Successful? Strictly defined, success means, "The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted" [1]. So literally any goal one sets for him\her self, that is achieved, is success. In the real world, however, we have to look at public opinion at times, weather we agree with them or not, to really define what it means to be successful. I'd say that we can all agree that Bill Gates is successful. I mean, he is the richest man in the world, so he must of accomplished some of his goals to get there. Others that fall into this category might include politicians, sports stars, big name actors, and long time business owners, all successful.

Is a modest living considered success? I mean, do we consider any old 9-5 worker to be successful? If their goals were to just make it and have a few possessions, then they fit the definition, but are they really successful? The majority of us don't look down on these people, because the majority of us are these people. I don't consider myself successful in any regard, yet my family is taken care of, the bills are paid, roof over our head and all that. Ask any homeless guy or victim of Hurricane Katrina if I'm successful and they'd probably say yes. Ask some poor unemployed soul from some impoverished nation if I'm successful and they would probably be humbled by the question, because in comparison to them, I'm rich. It seems that there is a little more to the definition of success. There is a comparison of sorts, unrelated to the setting of goals.

So do we measure success against our preconceived notions or against other peoples endeavors? What I mean by this is, do we actually set self goals or do we judge ourselves as successful in comparison to those we wish we were more like? Isn't that the whole thing with role models? When we are young we want to emulate those that we respect and we listen to their guidance and suggestions hoping that one day, we can be just like them, or better. That isn't always realistic. If you want to be just like your Dad, then great, that's probably obtainable, but to say that you want to be like Michael Jordan, well, there is only one Michael Jordan. I see a problem with fostering a successful attitude in children early on. When I was growing up in school, in the 80's and early 90's, there was this push toward higher education, which is wonderful. However growing up in urban cities like Detroit or Pontiac, Michigan, you don't exactly get the best bang for your education dollar.

Which brings me to another point, Schooling and Success or The Propaganda of College vs. Vocational Trades. Because of the push to get kids into higher education, we are actually hurting our kids. To explain, take your average student, and by average I mean "C" average. Regardless of his goals and dreams, assuming he has a focus as such, he's being told that he needs to get a higher education. First off, the kid isn't getting a lower education right now, so he's not even going to have the building blocks to go to college. He might be able to handle a community college, but the drop out rates of community college freshmen are very high. "At highly selective institutions, the vast majority of students graduate. But at public universities, which educate most U.S. students getting bachelor's degrees, nearly 60% fail to complete degrees within five years...and half of those leave during the first year. The dropout rate is even higher at many community colleges, where students are juggling jobs with their course work"[2]. So what does this kid do? He is out of school, has no immediate future in college and has no marketable skills. We need a push toward vocational education in public schools, and I'm not just talking about Auto or Shop classes, although those are fine professions. I'm talking about specialized training in smaller areas where these kids can get the ground work to having a usable life skill. Some schools are treating computer skills as vocational training, computer repair, diagnostics, etc, and jobs can be found using these skills with far less time and money than in the traditional higher education system. Furthermore, I'm not just talking about "C" average kids either, although they would benefit most from this, this is something that should be instituted across the board. This lack in vocational training is why we have adults today that don't know how to change a tire on a car.

Now I've been out of public schools now for 13 years, so I don't know how far they've come in this regard, but I can almost guarantee, that wherever the averages are, I'm sure the inner city numbers are lower. There is this unspoken similarity in minorities and poverty. That's not to say that all blacks and Hispanics are these kids that have no hope for higher education opportunities, just that there is this overlap of the two that have similarities. What I'm getting at is that something drastic needs to be done, especially for minorities. Even those who get education at the college level still don't have necessary life skills and fall apart under the pressures of life. I believe a push toward more vocational skills, specialized skills in children, can benefit everyone in the end and fill a void in the preparation process for becoming independent.

Now I could go on for days on my ideas on how to change our education system, but my topic is success. The definition for success is fine. We set goals, attain them and we are successful. This definition needs an asterisk however, one that defines the Method to be Successful. That asterisk should read as followed:

It is our duty as human beings to teach our children to set reasonable goals, goals that make them better than they are today, which are attainable and reasonable. It is our duty as human beings to grant our children the tools to fulfill these goals and to steer them in the direction to fulfill them. It is our duty as human beings to better ourselves in the process.