Success as defined by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary is, “the fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect or fame.” For a lot of people, success tends to be quantified in numbers: numbers of accomplishments, awards and dollars made. However, for Miami students, success is defined by personal values as opposed to the stereotypical financial or tangible gains.
Miami students Lauren Gehret and Jake Baroncini both define and measure success in terms of personal happiness.
“Success is reaching your goals and being happy where you are throughout life,” Baroncini says. Being successful, by this definition, is based off what you want personally as opposed to being something that can be defined and applied to all people who desire success.
Gehret agreed with Baroncini. “Success is finding what makes you happy,” she says.
Miami student Louise Ebling believes that success is a continuous process that is not able to be certainly defined and is not necessarily based on a person’s income.
“Every person that is successful is always trying to go one step further and make it to that next level in their lives. It requires you to keep working and never give up on whatever you want. I don’t think it can be defined in terms of one certain thing like, for example, income because the poorest person on earth could be the most successful musician,” Ebling explained.
Amanda Zeigler thinks that success is not related to what you do, but rather knowing the person you want to be.
“In a world where society is constantly telling people who they should be, being confident in who you are is success,” Zeigler added.
At one point or another, most people have been told that success requires hard work and determination. Though this standard of hard work is proven through the many prestigious accomplishments of Miami students, it is also evident that Miamians value personal happiness and reaching one’s personal goals as successful, going against the stereotype that success is determined by a dollar amount.