The Equilibrium of Me and Success

A reflection by TRIO student Lawrence Williams.

Equilibrium is a state of rest or balance due to the equal action of opposing forces, or equal balance between any powers, influences, et cetera – an equality of effect. Balancing my personal life now with who I want to become will unquestionably lead me to success. But it’s easier said than done.

The Me

What is The Me? The Me is your personal life and anything that solely revolves around you. To know The Me, you need to relentlessly think over all relationships, responsibilities, problems, past and present situations, et cetera.

The Success

The Success is not just where you want to be, it’s what you want to become. Who are you? What do you want or expect to get out of life. Above all of that you need to considerably determine how you’re going to get there. This area includes goals, aspirations, preexisting accomplishments that embody a monochrome of how you envision yourself in the end of your road, or so to speak.

The Equilibrium

The equilibrium of The Me and The Success is where these two forces coexist, creating an environment conducive to sustainable and certain progress. In other words, The Me and The Success are balanced so well that a favorable outcome is more likely than not. How so?

The Example Overview:

I will affirm the statement by personal example. I have been attending the Community College of Denver (CCD) for three years, though I expected to finish in two. I started school thinking I knew what I was doing. During my first semester I enrolled for the TRIO Summer Bridge program and received acceptance to the program. I stubbornly made my way through two mediocre semesters and a not so bad GPA. At this point, I decided to switch programs from Business to Paralegal.

I began the Paralegal program and managed to satisfactorily complete the first two semesters. Towards the end of this program, I discovered I was on financial aid suspension for taking too many courses at CCD.

The Example Analysis Regarding The Me

When I started college, I thought I knew The Me. As it turns out, I had an unrealistic ideology of how college would go and thought I would end up New York. I didn’t know anything about myself. I was naïve and prideful. I thought I could figure this whole thing out by myself. That is how my two-year stay at CCD has become three.

What was clear to me in the beginning was that I wanted a bright future. I fed my ambition with promises that I made to myself. However, what I did not understand was that the work involved in reaching my goals surpassed the effort I committed. The goals were obtainable, but the work that it took was more than I wanted to contribute.

I signed up for unnecessary classes because they looked interesting. For example, I signed up for a golf class. I was declaring my major as business and marketing so my excuse for taking the class was to know how to play golf when I became a successful businessperson. You are either laughing or wearing a grin from ear to ear, and that is probably because that is the silliest reason for taking that class. I ended up failing because the class met on Monday and Wednesday at 7:00 a.m. It was the first unnecessary class I took, and it would not be the last.

Because of my pride, I would not ask for help. You may say that you would have asked for help but you and I am not the same person. This was another fact that I had to deal with. Many of my friends were attending well-known universities like Howard University, Arizona State, University of Colorado Boulder. I was at community college. I felt that because I was smarter that I could run through these courses and transfer to another university in no time. Nevertheless, I was wrong. I ran though – ran straight through the allowable credits for various financial aid programs. I didn’t know that I could run out of stipend hours.

The failed attempts were adding up because I never asked for help. I was in TRIO, an academic support program, which provided a plethora of resources to help me achieve success but I never utilized these services. I was headed in the complete opposite direction I aspired to travel. My grades were dropping and I had no idea what to do. Then the answer became clear to me. It read in big flamboyant letters…” GET SOME HELP!”

The Example Regarding The Success

I finally did away with my pride and asked for help. Just like that I had begun to obtain the amount of success that I was looking for. I talked to my instructors about my personal life and issues that I may have had that could affect my performance in and outside the classroom. They were insightful and helpful and at the same time honest. I utilized my advisors and the advice that they had to offer. For instance: “Don’t take a full load of classes in order to receive all your financial aid; that is a set-up for failure, and it’s hardly worth the extra couple hundred dollars you would receive.”

My mind began to wonder where I would be had I only just asked for help earlier? There was a sudden guilt and foolishness I felt when I pondered this over. I had to realize that it was a lesson that I had to learn the hard way. I also learned to learn from my mistakes and not to create new ones.

The message of this story is to ask and receive. Ask for help. Ask for direction when you’re lost. Receive the help. Receive guidance, even when you think you know when you’re going. Above all learn. Learn from your mistakes and learn which ones not to make again.