The wisdom of seventh graders: Success

Raymond Chen

Seventh grade students (ages 12 to 13, roughly) were asked to write an essay on what success is and how you know when you’ve achieved it. The assignment was given under standardized test conditions: 90 minutes with nothing but pencil and paper, with an additional hour available upon request. (In practice, few students ask for the extra hour.) Remember, these are only the funny sentences/excerpts. Do not assume that all students write like this.

On the nature of success

• Success is not a very difficult thing to think about, but if you explain it, it can be hard to explain.
• Stride to Success
• Success is not the end, but the beginning.
• As the say goes, the only time you will find sucess before work is in the dictionary.

Recognizing success

• You have to do something that is genuin and worth while.
• Success means you have a jolly time.
• It’s a feel good feeling.
• To me success is a goal a feeling of prowness. that tells me that this is a goal of your limits not an age limit.
• Sucess is when you had the opportunity to do something greatful.
• Success is shaking your butt in their face that you are better than them.
• Another meaning for success is just winning. Winning is what most people think success is, but winning is only half the meaning of success. Winning is just winning. Yeah, but at least you can shake your butt in their face, and that’s worth something.
• Success is trying your best… I have a question. do teachers ever have success?
• You know you have reached the point of succession when you do really well.
• So many kinds of meanings can mean success but I think success mostly means to me a achieving.

Steps which do not lead to success

• If you slack you get failure. You end up poor, sad, terrible.
• You can’t just sit around watching television and eat Doritos.

The fleeting nature of success

• But even though money may make you happy it doesn’t last forever.
• After all, feeling like the king of the mountain doesn’t come as soften as the frustration does.

The recipe for success

• After you graguat from callage you can say, Success has finaly hit me.
• If you get good grades, you can go to a splendid colledge and then get a splendid sallary. Sounds splendid.
• One way is to make a T chart. Put what your good at on the left and what you love on the left. Burn the right hand side.
• My opinion of success is a cab driver.
• If you do all of the things mentioned in this article, you’ll have a very successful life.

Personal stories of success

• Whether your moment is singing on a stage to a huge audience, or handing out your first order of French fries at McDonald’s.
• Success can be as simple as winning a video game. You win easily and celebrate with a cookie. Do you shake your butt in their face?
• I was the most happiest person ever!
• Success is when you tell a casino that someone cheated at Black Jack.
• Success is like when I was in 4th grade and I learned to play Smoke on the Water a little.
• One thing that really makes a family is a pet.
• outsmarting and generally twisting my opponents words against him feels like hitting the jackpot.
• I was in such a dilemma!

Future success

• The fist and most important key to making a family is loving, beautiful, and wonderful wife.
• I want to get a wife that is nice, hard working, and has simple pleasures.
• My fantasies of success are having a great boyfriend, a job studying the migration paths of turtles in Australia, and eventually growing old and waltzing through an arch of Agust trees. But under no circumstances marry your boyfriend. That ruins it.
• Over the past 12 years I’ve been alive, I’ve had many emotions experiences, and a few lovers. Boys write about their wives. Girls write about their boyfriends and lovers. Wait, lovers? How old are you again?
• Success is feeling comfortable having Thanksgiving with your in-laws. I’m happy to declare that I have achieved success.

Examples of other successful people

• When Billy Armstrong made it to the moon, he had a great feeling of accomplishment.
• The teacher went around asking what they wanted to be when they grew up. Most kids said normal things but one girl said she wanted to be a unicorn. The class laughed. Because she believed in her insane dream she is the creator of My Little Pony.
• Mr. Bill Gates did not just read a get rich quick book and deside to crate Microsoft.

Out of about 300 students, the number who cited Bill Gates as a successful person: 17.

Raymond Chen

Follow