Personal Responsibility
Gen/200
January 14th, 2013
Nicky Reynolds

There are various ways that personal responsibility directly correlates into becoming successful in college. Personal responsibility is a major part of what makes us who we are. Whenever a person takes accountability for something that he says or does, that is him displaying personal responsibility. Being able to account for his actions can develop into a successful college career and opens the door for him to become a true leader. I plan to use personal responsibility in different ways to get the most out of my education. Developing my ethical standards will help me in taking responsibility for my actions, which in turn will help greatly to achieve success while obtaining my degree.
Personal responsibility will help give me the chance to obtain my goals of a higher education. Personal responsibility is exactly that, PERSONAL. It is up to me to make of it what I want. Every decision that I make regarding my education is mine, no one else’s. “Responsibility is not something you do: it’s a way of thinking and being” (Galindo, 2010, p. 19). I took this statement to heart because I believe that it is a way of life. The act of taking responsibility is not just something he does, but it is about him making the decision to follow through with it that makes him who he is. I am aware of my personal responsibility more now than I have ever been in my life.
When I received my Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice, I had no long-term for how I was going to use it. I only knew what my short-term plan was for acquiring it; at least I thought I knew. This time, though, I finally have a long-term plan that I am trying to achieve. Knowing that, I have no choice but to take personal responsibility for everything that I do. Every decision that I make has an effect on my future. Because of that, I have to make every attempt to succeed to the best of my ability in college.
I have never been one to set goals for achieving what I want. That may be why I am going back to school for a second time. Since I have an idea of what I want to have 10, 20 years down the road, I can set smaller goals to help me achieve the big goals. Being able to mentally see what each of my smaller goals I can/will achieve, is what is keeping me motivated to keep in touch with my personal responsibility. Knowing that having even a few goals that I do not achieve, it can have a ripple effect into my long-term goals.
Achieving my goals allows me to be a leader in every aspect of life; personally and professionally. One does not have to be in an important executive position to be a leader. By taking personal responsibility for his actions, in life and in his career, it correlates into him being a leader. People will look at him with confidence and know that they can have trust in him (Galindo, 2010). I plan on being more effective in my time management skills. This will allow me to meet my daily and weekly goals more efficiently. To go along with time management, I need to prioritize the things going on in my life and what I