Personal Responsibility Lindsay Bjornstad Gen200 11/21/11 Joyce Harrell

Personal Responsibility According to Webster's Third New International Dictionary Unabridged, the definition of responsibility is “Able to answer for one’s conduct and obligations.” ("Responsible." n.d.) From the same dictionary, the word personal is defined as: “Affecting one individual; not public or general.” (“Personal,” n.d). When the two definitions are looked at together, one can easily conclude what personal responsibility means. Personal responsibility is, as the definition says, being able to answer for and hold oneself accountable for their actions. As a college career starts, importance lies in a person being able to fulfill obligations. While in college, a student’s obligations are their courses. In order to have a successful college career, each individual student must realize that they solely determine the outcome of their schooling. While there are many outside interferences that can affect college success, personal responsibility is the biggest factor in college success. Personal responsibility is the biggest factor in a person’s college success. If one never holds themselves accountable for their success, they will never meet the goals they have set for their life. Individuals must be responsible for meeting the goals they set in their life. There is nobody else who is going to achieve the dreams of a diploma and a good job for them. Although accepting personal responsibility is important, remembering that there is a balance to personal responsibility is equally important. According to Garraway (1997), (to accept personal responsibility, we need to learn how to fail successfully. Don't go too far the other direction, however, and accept too much responsibility for actions. Accept appropriate responsibility for outcomes in your life. We should remember is that we cannot teach responsibility without predictability. Do what you say you will do. If you do not, people will start to ignore what you say. This applies to the work place as well as home.” (37). If someone does not accept responsibility for the situations they can control, they will set themselves up for failure. On the other hand, if they try to accept responsibility for the circumstances that are out of their control, they are setting themselves up for failure as well. Personal responsibility holds individuals accountable if they are unsuccessful in their college courses. Always blaming other people for one’s shortcomings gives an escape from responsibility. If a student cannot claim responsibility for their education, they will fail. The most important reason personal responsibility is the biggest factor in college success is that when people begin making decisions for their self, it will affect all areas of their life. College is a big leap into adulthood. For the majority of students, college is the first time being on their own, and it marks a time when they will begin to learn about the person they want to become. The skills learned and practiced through college will become the habits that are carried for the rest of a person’s life. Failing to claim responsibility in academics could carry over to somebody’s career, relationships, and every other aspect of their life. The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), focuses on learning outcomes that are essential for all college students in the 21st century. Among them is personal and social responsibility. Core Commitments is a related ACC&U initiative, and it focuses specifically on personal and social responsibility (Colby & Sullivan, 2009). According to Colby and Sullivan (2009), “the Core Commitments initiative has outlined five key goals within the broader category of personal and social responsibility. The five key dimensions of personal and social responsibility are: 1) striving for excellence: developing a strong work ethic and consciously doing one’s very best in all aspects of college. 2) Cultivating personal and academic integrity: recognizing and acting on a sense of honor, ranging from honesty in relationships to principled engagement with a formal academic honor code. 3) Contributing to a larger community: recognizing and acting on one’s responsibility to the educational community and to the wider society—local, national, and global. 4) Taking seriously the perspectives of others: recognizing and acting on the obligation to inform one’s own judgment; engaging diverse and competing perspectives as a resource for learning, citizenship, and work. 5) Developing competence in ethical and moral reasoning: developing ethical and moral reasoning in ways that incorporate the previous four dimensions, and using such reasoning in learning and in life.” To put into practice what I have written about in this paper, I plan to set both short and long term goals for myself. I plan to tell my friends and family about my goals so that they will question whether or not I am achieving them. The knowledge that others know about my goals will help to give me more motivation to follow through with them. I have learned the hard way what happens when a person fails to claim personal responsibility. After college at the age of eighteen, I did not put much effort into my schooling and I would blame outside sources for my failures. Getting an education past high school was just something that was expected of me, not something I really wanted. Now that I have more life experience and have matured, I want my degree for me, not for others. I have held a low paying full time job for the past five years and I want more for myself. That is a very strong motivation for my succeeding in school. In conclusion, although there are many outside interferences that can affect college success, personal responsibility is the biggest factor in college success for two main reasons. First, it holds people accountable if they are unsuccessful. But most important, when a person begins making decisions for their self, it will affect all areas of their life.

References:
Colby, A., & Sullivan, W. M. (2009, November). Strengthening the Foundations of Students' Excellence, Integrity, and Social Contribution. Liberal Education, 95(1), 22-29.
This is a fantastic article that provides information about the learning outcomes that are needed for college students to be successful in their academic career. The article concentrates on promoting a students’ social and personal responsibility. In order to clarify what that means, the article has outlined five key goals within the broader category of personal and social responsibility. The authors then go into detail of those five goals to give a better understanding of them. Garraway, P. (1997, Summer). Take this job and love it. Armed Forces Comptroller, 42(3), 37-39.
This was a great article written by Pert Garraway. The article discusses the best ways to take control of your life and accept the responsibility of getting what you want out of life. It provides examples of ways to control what happens in your life as well as gives an explanation of why it is important to take the specific steps to achieve your goal and why accepting personal responsibility is important to these goals. Personal. (n.d.). In Webster's third new international dictionary unabridged. Retrieved from https://www.mwu.eb.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/mwu
This is a complete definition and was retrieved from a well known and trusted dictionary. Responsible. (n.d.). In Webster's third new international dictionary unabridged. Retrieved from https://www.mwu.eb.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/mwu
This is a complete definition and was retrieved from a well known and trusted dictionary.