Personal Responsibility

Gen/200

Personal Responsibility

Most people learn personal responsibility at an early age. They are taught to clean up after themselves, to tell the truth, and learn the consequences and rewards of their actions. They understand very early the laws of physics that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Our actions positive or negative will have an affect on others and ourselves. There is a direct correlation between personal responsibility and self-discipline; both are required for college success. The correlation between personal responsibility and self-discipline was supported in a Journal of Employment Counseling article where 102 business were surveyed to gain a better understanding of employers’ views of student workers’ work related skills while they were on the job. Personal responsibility was assessed in relation to honesty, employee attendance, punctuality, and treatment of others (Alsup, Molseed, & Voyles, 2003, p. 165). The study showed a strong connection between workplace success and personal responsibility. Similar to workplace success, college success is contingent on honesty, class attendance, punctuality, and team collaboration. In college, the student must complete activities on his or her own accord, which is derived from self-disciplined. There lies the correlation of both personal responsibility and self-discipline to college success. There lies a direct correlation between personal responsibility and college success because to be successful in college, a student must have a high level of self-discipline. Without personal responsibility a student would blame the professor for not advising the class that he or she had a paper due in week 3. With personal responsibility, he or she would hold himself or herself accountable to review the syllabus and proactively seek out clarification from the professor. Self-discipline is a learned behavior that students must practice to create a habit. Without it a student will fail and have little to no personal responsibility, blaming others for what he or she were not disciplined to do. A student’s parents’ were disciplined to make sure the student attended and graduated high school. In college, students have more freedom and personal responsibility controlled by their self-discipline. Personal responsibility with a heavy dose of self-discipline is a recipe for college success. The correlation between personal responsibility and college success is linked to self-discipline. When we were children our parents made us clean up our rooms. As adults, self discipline makes us clean up our rooms. Because we are accountable for our self, we are personally responsible for the cleanliness of our room. Sure we want the place to look decent for guest and some of us have a high dosage of Obsessive Compulsive Behavior (OCD), however, I never understood why I had to take the time to make the bed in the morning when I was going to get right back in it later that evening. As an adult making my bed is a direct result of self-discipline. The reason we do things that we may not like to do but we know it is for our benefit is called self-discipline. Another example of self-discipline is the time I was younger my mother forced me to eat my vegetables and today as an adult I am still forced to eat vegetables, the only difference is that I am the one doing the forcing now. When some people describe a student as self-disciplined, they mean only that she does what is expected even when no adult is watching (or giving out rewards or punishments) (Kohn, 2006). This source directly supports the argument that self-discipline is doing what one knows they are supposed to do without someone making them do it. The student exhibiting this wisdom with personal responsibility will experience college success. Although a student can be successful in college and not have personal responsibility or a high level of self-discipline, there is a direct correlation between the two for obvious reasons. A teacher once told me how much her students’ morale had improved when she started letting them read or write in any position they chose—sitting, standing, or lying down anywhere in the room. That struck me as a little bit depressing because it pointed up how the norm is to deny students even the most basic control over their own bodies. A choice that children should be able to make as a matter of course is the exception, rather than the rule (Kohn, 2006). Absent a few exceptions, for a student to be a successful in college, he or she needs a high level of self-discipline to do the things that they may not want to do, but know they have to do in order be successful (thinking back to my analogies of making the bed in the morning and eating your vegetables).

What personal responsibility means to me is accepting the outcomes of my actions. Even the outcome of my bad choices gives me the opportunity to learn from my mistakes. Contrary to popular belief, we can control the outcomes of our lives by choosing how we respond. According to Covey (1989), humans “are response- able” (p. 73). They can respond to the results of their actions or the results of what has happened to them. Whether they caused the result to themselves or someone else caused the result to them, realizing that he or she determines their feelings about any event or action addressed to him or her, no matter how negative it seems, is powerful. The plan I have created to practice personal responsibility in my education to ensure success starts with self-discipline. I plan to exercise self-discipline in setting specific and realistic goals. I also plan to practice self-discipline in managing my time, planning as far in advance as I can to avoid last minute cramming. Self- discipline in managing my money wisely, taking care of my health, and eating healthy so which can result in my being alert and prepared to learn. Self- discipline in taking notes, reading, creating discovery, and intentional statements. Personal responsibility is empty without self-discipline and I plan to practice it in everything I to ensure success in my education. College success requires both personal responsibility and self-discipline. More important, self-discipline is a prerequisite to personal responsibility. Without self-discipline a student will have a hard time fulfilling their personal responsibility. Without personal responsibility a student will have a difficult time being successful in college. I have learned that personal responsibility begins with knowing who you are, who you are not, and who you want to be. Personal responsible is knowledge that you can respond to any situation and knowledge is power. Therefore, personal responsibility is an enormous source of power.

References

Alsup, J., Molseed, T. R., & Voyles, J. (2003, December). The role of the employer in shaping

students’ work-related skills. Journal of Employment Counseling, 165 (40.4). Retrieved

from General OneFile

Covey, S.R. (1989). The 7 habits of highly effective people. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Kohn, A. (2006). Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community. A Classroom of Their Choosing (10th ed.). Alexandria, VA: VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum.