Personal Responsibility
Lisa Curtis
GEN200
September 26, 2013
Brad Volmar
Personal Responsibility
Some people believe that only the lucky ones can gain a successful life. That only by being in the right place, at the right time, success is achieved. While there are those who will win the jackpot in Vegas and gain success that way, there are millions of others that have to work at it. Being personally responsible for our lives and what we become is the only way to ensure success. Success can be defined in different ways. Each individual has a standard of what success means to them. For me, setting a goal, working hard, and achieving it is success. I want to have a Bachelor’s degree. Since finishing my Associate’s Degree after high school, I have regretted not pursuing my education further. I feel I have failed that area of my life. My parents and my three brothers have finished college. I have known for years that finishing school was necessary to improve my own family’s financial state. Although I know that will come, it is not my motivation. My goal is to become the best person I can be and it starts with getting my degree. Personal responsibility is being accountable for our own actions. It is the belief that our choices determine what happens in our lives. People make decisions almost every second of their lives. Starting with the inconsequential things, for example, what to wear, eat, or drink, on to things of bigger consequence, like whether to pay the house payment or drive off a cliff. As humans we often make mistakes. Every choice has a consequence. If we practice good personal responsibility when we make wrong choices, we admit the mistake, try to fix it, and learn from it. Making excuses for bad behavior only passes the blame to someone else. Growth and learning is not obtained by passing blame and making excuses. This attitude of “not my fault” is catching on like fire and spreading. People are becoming more concerned about what their rights are than what their responsibilities are. According to Feulner (1994), “It is a terrible, debilitating curse to live your life…more preoccupied with what is owed you rather than what you owe others, more absorbed with placing blame than in accepting responsibility.”
Our choices shape our lives. Personal responsibility is important if we want control of our future. If we are not happy with our circumstances we have the right to change it. We can change our work, education, our reactions, how we spend our time, and who we associate with. Each day, we can look at our lives, evaluate them, and make changes if needed, so that we are achieving and living in line with our goals. Life is too-short to do otherwise (Earley, 1999). A hot topic of discussion today is public education in America. Schools receive failing grades because the students are failing. Blame is thrown at the schools, the teachers, administrators, and the government. As a result, millions of dollars are given to public education to improve it, yet student success still remains low (Hwang, 1995). According to Hwang (1995) “the battle for school reform has not been won because Americans, as a society, have failed to identify the real cause of educational failure.” Teacher performance and lack of funds can contribute to school failure, but so do students who lack personal responsibility and do not take responsibility for their own learning. Hwang (1995) stated, “When students fail to learn by neglecting to do their part, it is not educational institutions but students themselves…who should be held accountable for student failures.”
There is a direct relationship between personal responsibility and college success. Practicing good personal responsibility will pave the way to college success. To be a good student one must be open to new ideas, learning, processing, and implementing them into his or her life. It takes deep commitment and personal responsibility to earn a college education. Being personally