by Shane Tucker

Created on: June 15, 2009   Last Updated: June 16, 2009

What does it take to be successful? Success can be measured in so many ways it is difficult to know a certain path to take in order to achieve it. There is monetary success, which is measured by how much wealth you accumulate. There is the joy of having a happy and healthy family, which is considered being successful at marriage and parenting. There is spiritual success in having peace in your heart through religion. There are so many things that need to be taken into consideration before you can determine if a person is successful.

Education is a valued privilege in America, as it should be. People should take advantage of every opportunity to become more knowledgeable. However, knowledge is not always obtained through the traditional forms of education. Is the brick mason, who builds beautiful and lasting structures, successful even though he may have only completed 8th grade? Is the farmer who uses knowledge of weather and seasons successful when he harvests thousands of dollars worth of crops for national consumption, even though he may have never attended formal school? Or the inventor who creates a product that enhances millions of lives, even though she does not have a college degree? Is she considered a success?

Over the course of the last few decades, children and young adults have been pushed more and more to attend college in order to improve their chances of becoming successful. I feel that while knowledge is a wonderful thing, higher education is not for everyone. If one chooses to get a college degree, that is wonderful, but an increasing number of people are entering college fresh out of high school and have no idea what they want to do as a profession. While some find their way after a few semesters and settle into a major that they find fulfilling, some struggle to find their niche, if they ever do at all. Surveys abound showing that job satisfaction among Americans decline every year. Some experts feel that this is because individuals are given no real life experience in the workforce, and therefore have nothing to base their decisions on for what course of study to follow. If you receive a degree, obtain a job, and accumulate a sum of money, does this make you successful even though you are miserable with your job?

Some people know exactly what they want to do with their lives and work through high school and college to achieve their dreams. This is wonderful and part of the American Dream. However, I believe

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