Wednesday, March 12, 2008

My Right To Fail

The article "The Right to Fail" by William Zinsser talks about how sucess is defined and determined by the individual. People have the right to fail and go against society's definition of success, which is going to college, getting a degree and having a good job. Success comes in different forms and occurs differently for each person. A person can feel succesful by joining the Peace Corps while another person is successful by getting that corner office. There is no "right" or "wrong" answer to success, it is all up to the individual to find what works for them.

Growing up, my family always told me that I could do whatever I wanted with my life and they would support me no matter what happened. In their eyes, I will always be successful. But I knew at a young age that their standards for success were high. I guess it had to do a lot with their own successes. I would say that I come from a very successful family, which consists of my maternal grandparents, mother, aunt and older brother. My entire family has had very successful lives and being the youngest the standards for my success were based on their acheivements. I was able to live up to those standards. For majority of my school years, I had a 4.0 GPA. I never received a report card grade that was lower than a B. But don't get me wrong I have had my share of failures. I didn't win my first pageant until after two tries, I had to fail at basketball before I realized that I was a better volleyball player, I burned several things before I learned how to cook and I didn't get into the U.S. Air Force Academy. Also, I got some low grades on assignments, quizzes, and tests in certain classes. But I never let those failures get me down. I feel that a lot of my successes would never have happened if I first didn't fail at them. I learned from my past failures and they all helped my grow and be successful the next time around.

For me, success is a lot more than just getting my degree and getting a good job. I also believe that success just doesn't happen once and it doesn't have to be a big thing. You can be successful numerous times in your lifetime and something really small can be as successful as the big things. I have had many moments in my life that I consider to be successes. For example, I felt successful when I won my first pageant, when I made my first fry-bread, and when I became a starter for my high school's varsity volleyball team. As you can see, my successes are more than just academics. There are other aspects in your life where you can be successful. Success to me is more than just what I accomplish academically.

All in all, there is no one definition of success. It is determined by each person and they shouldn't be judge because their definition is different from the norm.

2 comments:

Wonder Woman said...

I agree that successes are determined by each individual and the family that they grea up in. I also agree with you that people learn better when they fail at things first. No matter what teenagers don't take very much advice, they like to learn for themselves. I know the best way I learned was to figure things out for myself.

mitzi said...

It’s interesting to me that though you know your family will support whatever path you choose, that there is also a high standard for success in you family. It sounds like you and your entire family have created many different versions of success, and that has allowed you to work hard in many areas. I think you make a really good point about defining success for yourself, and recognizing the importance of “little” successes.