Define "Success"

During university, I was obsessed with being the best at everything I dabbled in. I was going to be the best runner. (Fail.) I wanted to have the best fashion blog (believe it or not, there are 250 posts I have saved as a draft on my landing page from Reine Rose's previous iteration!  But I never got more than a dozen or so followers, and the dream died. ) I wanted to be the best student (I actually did get this one, and I have a plaque to prove it, little that it matters now in the adult world.) I wanted to be the best dressed (that never happened- you should meet some of my sorority sisters!) I wanted to be fit and thin (but pint night and late night runs to Chilie Peppers were major obstacles that set me up for failure.) I just never really achieved the success I thought I wanted. 

My January/February Work To-Do list... FINISHED

Then I started my career, and I was determined to be named Outstanding Young Agriculture Teacher in the state of California. I had a seven year window in which to make it happen, and dammit, it was going to happen. 

I slowly learned, though, that chasing success like this just isn't my style, and I'm finally embracing this about myself.  

I am not saying I'm not a good ag teacher. I work really hard, and I try to give students opportunities through a program I believe in, very, very deeply. But I have learned that in order to earn this prestigious award,  I'd have to give up some things that mattered a lot to me- and I just wasn't willing to make that sacrifice. Events in the last few years have taught me that my life passed me by when I was chasing a kind of victory I wasn't even sure I wanted anymore. 

In many ways, I'm not conventionally successful in my career. I don't have judging teams with silver bowls, no students who have earned national recognition for their speaking skills, no state or regional officers. These are truly wonderful accomplishments that can change a student's life for the better, and I have the utmost respect for those who can make these incredible things happen for kids....  But that's not necessarily how I define success for myself or my career today. I have students who have found their dream career in my classroom. I have students who overcame their tremendous fear of public speaking and managed to give a beautifully memorized and presented prepared speech. I've had students earn recognition for their hard work that would normally go unnoticed. I've seen students who think they couldn't pass a science class earn a C, and jump with joy. I think these are all successes, and I know that students' lives are better for it. 

I guess this is a long way of saying that YOU, and only you, can define what success means for you. Maybe you won't settle for being less than the absolute best- and if that's what you want, I have no doubt that you can achieve it. And it's positively okay if your definition of success changes- mine certainly has. We're each on our journey, and you can't judge someone else because you haven't walked their path. 

I do know this, with unwavering certainty- you can achieve success (however you define it) when you put your mind to it and if you do your absolute best

I have. One example of that is right here.