Personal Success in College

I believe that everyone has their own definition of success. After all, it means something different to us all. Throughout my college career I have always been very driven and goal oriented. As I had a very non-traditional experience, after graduating from high school in Sweden and considering attending two very good Universities in the United States, I realized I did not want to rush into anything I was not completely sure of. I decided to attend community college and really decide what it is I want to do as a professional career, and thats when I became even more passionate about my education. I had a vision, and I have not stopped pursuing my dream. Transferring to San Diego State has definitely put my dreams into more of a reality for me. I have finally come to a place where I can put my thoughts, plans, and goals into action and become who I feel like I am meant to be. 

In Annie Murphy Paul’s article, “Secrets of Most Successful College Students” I definitely resonated with a lot of statements that were made. Such as, pursue passion not A’s. In my communication lectures I have been so fascinated with the field because I see how it applies not only in my career but in my everyday life with people and myself. When I am focused on understanding a theory in lecture rather than just focused on the number I get on an exam or my letter grade at the end of a semester, I know I have really received what I want from my education and my purpose for studying and working so hard. 

Throughout college I have also grown and learned a lot about myself by getting comfortable with failure. A topic Murphy Paul touches on. It definitely has helped me grow as an individual. However, had I become more comfortable with the idea before college, I think things would have been a lot easier for me. This is a topic I believe can be expanded on quite a lot. For anyone younger than myself who has not started college yet, or advice I would pass down to my little brother and sister is that in life you are simply not going to succeed in every single little thing you do. That to me was hard to understand when I was in high school, and I do not think it is emphasized as much as it should be. Yes we can all try our best in everything we do which is great. But to learn how to overcome failure when it hits us is just as if not more important. That is just life, we are humans, and are naturally going to be better at one thing than another. I believe it is important to celebrate victories and not beat yourself up over failures, but to take failures with a grain of salt and use them more of as a learning experience than seeing it as a loss. 

Later in my college career, I thanked myself for not jumping into a four year university straight out of high school since I was not sure of what I wanted to do yet. Because I gave myself more time to explore different career paths at community college, I really understood that it was important for myself to make a personal connection to my studies. Another topic Murphy Paul touches on. Without that connection I would have felt like I was going to class because I had to and not because I wanted to. I like to think to do things in life with passion, or not at all. Because things that are done with passion, and genuinely from the heart usually turn out to have the best kind of outcome. Not only for my college career, but anything in life, in order to be successful I believe the Murphy Paul has very insightful tips throughout the article, and brings up very good points to think about that can be applied to more than school and studies.