"If not us then who? If not now then when?" Personal responsibility is not something often discussed in this day and age. But it is a very important tool in succeeding, not only in personal success, but in academic and work success as well. Even though too many opinions cause a big stir and many people think there is only one way of doing things in order to function, it is something each individual person needs to be willing to take part in and meet society's and their own personal standards. Everyone in this entire world possesses some sort of code of morals and ethics. Even though people's codes vary from person to person they still all hold a personal meaning to every individual. Morals and ethics hold a role in personal responsibility. If you were to ask me to define personal responsibility I would say it is exactly what it says, being "personally responsible," or accountable, or liable for something. Any way you swing it, it all falls back on "YOU". Whether you are taking the fall for something, OR the credit for something, you are being personally responsible. One author put it like this, "Personal responsibility is the willingness to both accept the importance of standards that society establishes for individual behavior and to make strenuous personal efforts to live by those standards. But personal responsibility also means that when individuals fail to meet expected standards, they do not look around for some factor outside themselves to blame. The demise of personal responsibility occurs when individuals blame their family, their peers, their economic circumstances, or their society for their own failure to meet standards" (Haskins). We all need stability in our lives. Just ask the single mother of two who works full-time and is going to school. As long as you’re holding to what is true to your heart and what you know is right this world would be full of personally responsible people. They would be responsible in every aspect of their lives as far as work, school, family, friends, etc. To be successful in a college setting you need to be able to set goals for yourself. Be a planner and an organizer so you can stay on top of your classes. Do not let the “party scene” be your main scene. You need to stay responsible and give up parts of your social life in order to stay focused on obtaining your degree. Personal responsibility can take you far and even make you a more reputable person in some people’s eyes. If you judged people every day on their actions and the way they handled every situation but then got angry when someone gave you constructive criticism it would not be fair or responsible. "The new national pastime is finger pointing and blame shifting. In the political world, we hear from our lawmakers that the situations requiring decisions they make are not really their fault. The President says the higher gasoline prices are not his fault" (Newman). Personal responsibility means being accountable not only to yourself but also to others. In my education experience, I plan to be more accountable for my own actions in order to create a better learning experience. I can do this by being active in my group assignments. It is simply not fair for someone to have to do all the work and it is also not fair for someone’s work to be plagiarized. I want to be accountable for all of my work and that means taking the blame or bad grades and well as the good ones. You have to learn to take the blame for your actions and accept the consequences whether good or bad. When you can learn to take the blame it makes you a better person all around. Whether it is as simple as admitting you did not change the toilet paper after you used the last of it or something bigger like accepting the fact you were wrong in an argument with your spouse it makes you a stronger person. Taking the credit for something is not always bad, either. Sometimes it is a reward waiting for you and not a beating (metaphorically speaking). By