Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
open books on a table
open books on a table
Photo by Patrick Tomasso from Unsplash
SBU | Life > Experiences

My Version Of Success

Jordan Swift Student Contributor, St. Bonaventure University
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

What does success mean to me?

Well, when I think of success, I think of accomplishing everything that I put my mind to. 

Even the little things can be considered an accomplishment, like getting up in the morning, making your bed, and going to your 8:00 a.m. or 8:30 a.m. classes. 

Success can be measured in big events as well, such as graduating high school and either going straight into the workforce, going to a trade school, or even college. 

When I think of success, I think of accomplishing everything you want to in a single day. For me, that is getting up and going to all my classes, eating at least two meals a day, talking to my parents as much as I can, and at the end of the day, doing all of my work that needs to be done. 

Success can also mean having end goals. Goals that you hope to achieve after a long journey. So, for me, that would be graduating college with a master’s in occupational therapy, finding my dream job, settling down in a relationship, and eventually down the road, getting married.

This would be considered a success in my books because it’s everything that I’ve ever dreamed of and have been wanting to accomplish. 

Success can also be looked at as overcoming certain obstacles.

Personally, I have overcome more obstacles than I’ll write about here. Some obstacles can include being bullied back in elementary and middle school then having to move schools in the sixth grade, starting fresh at another school while also meeting new people, and even going through knee surgery my junior year and having to sit out of softball and almost all of my senior year of cross country. 

However, it didn’t stop there. When I graduated, I was going to be starting a new chapter in my life, and that would be college. I remember coming to college and being scared I wasn’t going to make any friends or that I was going to be bullied just like I was in earlier parts of my life. And let me tell you, freshman year was hard on me… No, I wasn’t being bullied, but I did struggle to find my people. 

As my junior year started, and as it is currently going, I am finding my people, the ones who will stand beside me through any and all obstacles, and that is something that I would consider a success. Because even though things were hard as a kid, and at some points in my adult life, I can say that I have overcome almost every obstacle that has been thrown my way. 

Jordan Swift

SBU '26

Jordan Swift is a second year writer at Her Campus at SBU chapter. She plans on writing about current trends, different events that have happened in her life, movies that she likes to watch, and how they relate to her life. Jordan is excited to get to know all her fellow Her Campus sisters. She can't wait to read all the creative writings that her chapter of Her Campus has to share with others in the world.

Jordan can be described as a senior at St. Bonaventure and is currently in the 3+2 program, with her undergraduate major being Public Health with an Occupational Therapy concentration. She has hopes of becoming an Occupational Therapist for adolescents in a school district. She has shadowed several different Occupational Therapists and has grown to love the profession.

When Jordan has free time, she looks forward to spending time with her family and friends, going on hikes, listening to music, watching movies, such as "Matilda" and "Hocus Pocus", and going on different spontaneous trips. She enjoys volunteering at local SPCAs, as well as volunteering at food banks.