What is success?

After writing dozens of recommendations for students over the years and being asked what percentile they rank in year after year, I started to think, “What makes a successful student? What would I define as the most successful student of the year, of a career?”

I have taught students who have received full rides to the University of Chicago and those whom the local community college is suspect of; so to define success is hard. With that being said, Aaron’s story is one from which we can all learn.

Coming to the U.S. at age 5 with his mother and younger brother to join his father, who had come to the States earlier, Aaron began his educational story. He admits that it was not until his parents and other siblings left to return to Mexico the summer before his junior year that he started to think about the future. Their departure led him to move from North Carolina to Nashville to live with an uncle.

Upon arrival, Aaron could see his new living situation would necessitate getting a job so as to not put his uncle under more financial stress than providing a place to live would already do.  So while working as a construction laborer, he started at his new high school living with a family member he had seen maybe once or twice in the last 10 years. I cannot help but to think this move, new job, and new living situation helped him mature at a faster rate than some of his classmates, and this ultimately led to his success.

During his senior year, Aaron has earned 12 college credit hours and an industry certification as a Certified Autodesk user in the Inventor program. He attributes his time in an academy model with providing him the opportunity to participate in an internship with the local electric company as well as earn college credit, leading to his decision to major in electrical engineering. In addition to his academic success, he has been a soccer player for a district championship team and a cross country runner, has been involved in numerous mentoring and career-related clubs, and acts as a positive role model both in and out of the classroom.

Knowing his background makes his academic success that much more impressive.  He has already amassed $40,000 in private scholarships toward his engineering major at a local private college because his legal status will not allow him to receive federal financial aid or in-state tuition. His drive to succeed amidst such obstacles makes me re-evaluate the spectrum that we call success. While we as educators can measure the academic success of students with some level of accuracy through assessments, I think we will never fully be able to quantify the potential of the human drive. Therefore, we must help students find their passion and put in place the people and resources to help those passions be realized.

By Adam Guidry, Lead Teacher, Academy of Environmental and Urban Planning, Glencliff High School, Nashville, TN