Student Success

The most important realization that a student can make in their hunt for success and personal growth is that there is no such thing as the correct chronological order of reaching success but rather what are the correct steps and attributes. Success is a word that can be defined in multiple ways depending on the individual being asked. The definition could either consist of personal experience or from what they have observed and learned in the past. Most students, especially those in high school, define their success by going to college and earning a degree in a high paying career. A successful student should have a specific purpose or aim in life. It could either be attending a four year university, community college or simply in grade school
but should be determined to achieve results that will increase their knowledge and well-being. They fully understand that they will have to make sacrifices and overcome adversities because it will not be handed to them. The successful person will learn from his mistakes, which will allow them to find solutions to problems rather than giving up. Students should have a balanced view of personal desires while striving to contribute to society. The successful student will need to stay positive and ambitious as they put effort into every task that is in their path and acquire certain attributes, be willing to sacrifice and learn from their mistakes.
In order to become a successful student, a lot of consideration is taken in about the amount of work the student must put in. If the student half do everything and puts no thought into anything, then there is no point. The only reason they are doing the certain task is for either a grade, points, extra credit and so on, but not for the actual learning experience has no benefit. The student can convince themselves into doing anything but having no motivation, will lead to nothing. This applies to students, especially seniors in high school who are beginning to apply to universities and college because colleges ask “What have you done to make your school or your community a better place,” so an exotic trip sounds perfect for them (University of California). They begin to start helping other that summer of their senior instead of doing it overtime, because they know college applications are due within a few months and need something to that will make their application better. This is a common mistake any student who is striving to go to college could do. College administrations have been reading these depressing and encouraging applications for years, so they know which are the genuine and the dishonest students. Therefore in recent years, college administrators have noticed the lack of thought and time into their essays. They notice that the community service “turns developing-world hardship into a prose-ready opportunity for growth, empathy into an extracurricular activity,” which the majority of students interpret (Bruni). When doing community work as abstract as leaving the country to help people in need, they believe it will emphasize their essay on how they are an outstanding individual. But in the end, it is a matter of fact of how the student collects this service opportunity into a life changing experience.
Although leaving the country to help children can be a wonderful opportunity.
It allows students to open their mind and see how the living standards are in that country. They see with their own eyes and feel how these children live everyday in poverty but still remain happy. They are able to pay hundreds of dollar for a plane ticket to Costa Rica and should be grateful because these foreign children might not even be able to receive three meals a day. There is nothing wrong with leaving the country and helping others, but it is how you interpret the experience. Success is not determined whether you are able to afford a plane ticket but rather how on the flight back to their beloved home, are able to reflect on this experience, which most students fail because they do not balance their personal desires. In the end, “Kids don’t know how to connect these experiences to the rest of their lives, to the bigger picture,” they just see it as an act of kindness what will look great in their college applications
(Bruni).
Either than having commitment and balance personal desires, self motivation is needed in order to become a successful student.In high school, students who desire to go to college, the majority will take AP classes to not only enhance to their GPA but to pass the exam in May in hopes of getting college credit. Individuals who want to succeed will take that extra step. Sometimes these students are involved in sports, extracurricular activities, school, leaderships and so on, leading to a full plate. This could sometimes lead into lack of motivation of wanting to do any academics because they have pushed themselves to max. Being overwhelmed is not something the student should reach but rather excitement in wanting to do more. In fact, students become more “successful when he or she finds something that motivates him or her to go everyday to university, sit down for several hours and seek answers to the questions their teachers and colleagues pose,” which benefits them in many ways (Goodin). With this being said, self-motivation is an attribute greatly needed in order to accomplish school work. The teacher or supervisor will not be their holding the students’ hand, guiding them through everything because they have surpass that. Just like Kewauna, being a college student and still having grammar issues was not an ideal thing but she took it upon herself to find a tutor.. She had explained that she had to build courage and motivation because “No matter how overwhelming it is, no matter how exhausting it is, I’m not going to give up,” which made her confident in where she was heading (Tough)
Starting fresh in college or high school, where the student is out of their comfort zone can be challenging, so self-motivation may not be the best because they need that encouragement in this new setting.
The majority will agree that the first couple of days, you will need someone to guide you and help you through this new process in your life which will help you become a better and successful person in the future. They need that guidance, which would be unrealistic. Students who want to succeed will not always have that helping hand. In college the professor will hand you out worksheets, lectures, power points that will help you succeed in the exam but it will not be mandatory to do, it will be optional but it is highly recommended. In times like this, the professor is not going to insist and push you to do your homework because they are only there to teach and provided the necessary information for the semester exams. Yes, the professor will have office hours in which the student can go in and talk about what they're struggling in the course but the professor not will not email the student and insisting into coming in. This is where self motivation is needed from the student to push himself into asking for help. Just like Kewauna, she had grammar and vocabulary issues but when she did not know word during a lecture, she would write it down and put a red star next to it so she could go back home and review (Tough). This is what helped her succeed in college, self
motivation and not giving up.
Another aspect in which students need to learn, is to adapt to the process of struggling. Many students struggle whether it is trying to solve a math problem, memorizing important events, the process of photosynthesis and so on. But the reason they struggle is the student is trying to accomplish the task but will not give up. This is how success is accomplished by actually trying to reach their desired goal. For instance, western cultures see struggle as a student and who is not capable of being intelligent is not able to accomplish anything. They do not see the positive side of struggling and how it helps students to learn from their mistakes to surpass that passed struggle. Now as for eastern cultures they see struggle as a good thing which will further enhance their intelligence because they are learning from their mistakes (Spiegel). Cultures could have a huge impact of how children will become students in the future and view success. They did could either see just it as a huge paycheck after graduating university or a grateful opportunity that they worked really hard for.
Although struggle is good, sometimes the student is not actually genuine about it. Elaborating to that topic, there are times where students struggle constantly but do not try to better themselves meaning they stay in that same level. That is definitely not an action that will lead a student to success. Yes, struggle is good for student in order to learn from their mistakes and to rise not to stay in that same level but there should be an extent. The student could genuinely not understand the material but are afraid to ask because they will be seen us incapable of doing the work. This is where help from a tutor or parent should come in and help them.
Overall success is not an easy process and a lot of consideration and work and determination is needed in order to accomplish the desired goal. The student usually defines their goal by going to college or university in acquiring their desired career in which paid off in the end. Those who are willing to work and sacrifice go Saturday night with friends for studying sessions are the ones who will succeed in life. Those who get the opportunity to to help others in need but gather that experience I has an extra moral value. Anyone can acquire these strategies and attributes, it is just a matter of dedication and work to reach success.