With graduation coming up, seniors are applying to jobs, hunting for apartments, and planning for life after undergrad. However, not everyone follows the same path after graduation. Yes, many are applying for and going into full-time employment; however, others are going to grad school, taking a gap year, volunteering, or even traveling the world.
These different paths got me thinking. While we may all be going in different directions, we may have more common goals than we think. I asked a variety of my fellow seniors across different majors: What does success mean to you? What do you think of when you imagine a “successful person”?
Some common themes include:
Goal Achievement
- “Success to me is improving upon yourself or reaching a goal, no matter how big or small.”
- “Success to me means achieving any personal or professional goals one has set for themselves in life and being happy with the outcome”
- “[Successful people] minimize regret and maximize accomplishment.”
Continuous Self-Improvement
- “I think a successful person is someone who continually meets their goals and always works toward improving themselves.”
- “As long as you are making an effort to become better, get better at something, or accomplish a task, I would label that as success.”
- “I would say a successful person is someone who sets goals and surpasses them. They live each day with purpose and are constantly working towards something on the horizon.”
Living Life Your Way
- “[A successful person] doesn’t need affirmation or approval from anyone else because they are proud of who they are because they know they have good reason to be”
- “I would say a successful person is someone who has accomplished enough to the point that they have the freedom to live their life on their terms.”
- “Success would be like achieving your dream job that not only makes you happy but also allows you to have the resources to do other things in your life.”
Happiness
- “A successful person to me is someone who has followed their dreams/goals, has found happiness in their life and encourages others to do the same.”
- “I would definitely measure success in terms of personal, more intangible means than material ones since things like having a lot of money. Material goods don’t necessarily make you successful.”
- “I think success comes from being happy with your choices and the goals you have set and achieved for yourself.”
- “Just someone who you can tell is genuinely happy. They are truly successful.”
When speaking to me these students may have been envisioning individuals with differing careers, however, they all maintained the same core ideas. Success comes from within. Anyone who works hard, perseveres, helps others, and tries to make a life they’re happy in is successful.