Success

I've been thinking a lot about success recently. As I edge ever closer to the end of my degree ,and education as a whole, I've begun to question what success really is, and what it means to me.

Throughout the whole of our school lives we're taught that success is based upon straight numbers and facts. The kid who got the A* was more successful than the one who got a D, simple. That system always seemed to work fine for me too! I tended to get good grades, and felt like I was pretty deserving of the term 'successful'.

I'm not so sure now though. As I've gotten older my idea of success seems to have changed. Maybe its because I've struggled my way through this degree course and am rebelling against the educational 'system', or maybe I've grown up and am starting to see the bigger picture?

When I chose to pursue art at college level I felt like it was a burst of freedom. I didn't have to be bored by science, or maths or history, I was free to be creative and extrovert and anything I wanted to be! I'd be lying if I said I didn't love it at first. My time at college was fantastic, I felt confident in what I was doing and like I'd made the perfect choice for my future. It's only as I passed into university that my feelings towards this subject changed. I hated the course immediately, and was suddenly slapped in the face with the realisation that I'd provided myself with little to no career prospects outside of the art world. It was terrifying!

It's this point that provided me with the kick up the bum I really needed! 20 years old and in my second year of Uni I realised it was time to work with what I had and make the effort to salvage my poor decisions and crack on with my life!

It's now that I look back and realise maybe that's what success means to me right now. It's not about the number or letter written next to an assignment, but the way you make choices for your own life. A year ago I realised where I wanted to be and what I had to do to get there. Now I'm in a better position than I'd ever have thought possible at this point!

When we really look at it, success isn't just about the good decisions you make in your life, it's also about recognising the poor ones and having the will to change them. I made this realisation, and now I have a job I love, a blog I'm really getting stuck into and a feeling of contentment unlike any I've felt before. It's all really quite lovely!