Blog 1 This I Believe: Success is Earned not Given by Alex Shapiro
During my time at Penn State I have noticed, for many students, success is just expected. They seem to think that because they go to such a well-known and reputable school, that big job or internship is already locked up. Well, unfortunately for them that is not quite how things work.
I was able to experience this first hand last semester as I was searching for my first off campus internship. I went in thinking it would be a breeze. I have, in my opinion, a solid resume as I have been interning with Penn State Athletics in the Strategic Communications Department since my freshman year. For some reason, I thought this alone would be enough to set me apart from the rest of the competition I was going against. Obviously, this was very naïve of me.
The vast majority of applications did not even get back to me. I managed to get a few interviews over the phone, which weren’t very promising at first. It had been months since I started my search and I still had no promising leads. Something had to change.
I was able to realize, with all the competition surrounding the types of positions I was seeking, the only way to get ahead is to be proactive instead of reactive to what’s going on. So I utilized all the resources at my disposal. This is when I had my breakthrough and eventually landed multiple offers for the summer.
In my case, everything ended up working out because I realized nothing is going to be handed out. No matter how impressive your GPA is or how great your resume seems, it’s all about you deciding you need to go for it instead of just waiting around for something to come your way.
Unfortunately, not everyone will have the same luck as me. I was able to get this lesson out of the way relatively early because of the work I have already been putting in since starting here at Penn State. But for those who just go through the motions for four years and just expect a job, the story will be much different.
It’s a pretty basic concept. The supply of jobs, which is what I consider success at this point in my life, simply does not meet the demand. There is only so much to go around.
This is why I believe success is earned by those who really want it and not given to those who wait around for it.