Personal Responsibility

Personal Responsibility was once defined by Dr. Frank Thomas as the ability of a person to maturely respond to the various challenges and circumstances of life (Thomas, 2012). Acquiring the skills to acknowledge personal errors and learn from them, requires a certain level of maturity. As children we turn to our parents for guidance and improvement; however, as we enter college there becomes a new responsibility of becoming our own mediator. Students must have the integrity to discipline themselves and stay focused on their college career, lack of personal responsibility is considered one of the main causes of American school failure (Sinng & Ader, 2001). To achieve success, students must be held accountable for their actions and decisions regardless of the outcome. Although there are many rewarding decisions, some may lead to certain consequences, overcoming challenges is a process of acknowledging errors and correcting them properly. Listening and responding to how others are affected by the situation will help in guiding toward an appropriate solution. Follow through to ensure that the parties concerned are comfortable with the outcome no matter what the consequences may be. Self-examination of convictions, values, and ethics will help in the growth toward personal responsibility and academic success. For example, if a student has been arriving late to class, he will need to wake up earlier relative to how late he has been to successfully confirm conviction toward success. Ethics play an important role in academic success by allowing students to stand behind their values and principles and not be deterred for any reason. Unfortunately, not everyone has the morals, values or integrity as responsible students and may be tempted to plagiarize work. While at my age academic success can be a very intimidating challenge, my personal goals for academic advancement keep me focused and prepared for the challenges that lie ahead. The goals that I currently