Self Responsibility

Preparing for a successful college transitions may not be as easy as one thinks. Who helps to insure success in anyone's college endeavors? Making the transition to college from a work environment can add even more stress to an already busy lifestyle. Juggling a job, family, and now college would seem to be an uphill battle, especially if the plan is to be an effective college student. Responsibilities at work and home can be delegated depending on family dynamics. However, who will take the blame if success does not come to fruition? While some students just get by in college, personal responsibility is the key element to achieve college success. Personal responsibility is one's willingness to acknowledge that they are solely responsible for choices and actions in their own lives. Personal responsibility involves effective goal setting and time management, realistic money management, and a healthy lifestyle. College success has to begin somewhere, why not plan a strategy that involves taking responsibility for a successful journey through college?

Strategies simply give you options on becoming a successful college student. Effective goal setting and time management strategies can help students to accomplish long and short term goals. According to Griffin, MacKewn, Moser and Van Vuren (2012), time management addresses the efficiency in which one uses available time expended in the pursuit of academic endeavors. On the other hand, (Newman 2010) you start out with time management, but the more it is looked at time management, the more you began to realize that it was a symptom of the fact that there was no clear strategy. In essence, academic goals have to be stated clearly for time management to be effective. First, write down specific academic long and short term goals and then visualize achieving these goals. (Phoenix 2012), Setting goals that are not relevant to your larger goals or do not provide any sense of accomplishment is also counterproductive (p.1). Goals should not be a feeling or emotion but an exact behavior and something tangible. Incorporate reminders whether it's a sticky note, mantra, or ring tone in cell phones about plans to achieve college success. Next, design life according to these goals by organizing time wisely. People possess the ability to make time for the things that they want out of life. Therefore, learning to manage time wisely with classes, work, and family will bring the reality of the goal closer. Create a plan for success by scheduling, creating a calendar, and writing down appointments. Taking ownership of personal time allows other aspects in your life to run smoother creating balance and less stress. Eventually, scheduling should account for every minute of the day until it becomes a learned behavior. Effective goal setting and time management can lead to organizing other aspects of our lives that are on the road to achieving college success.

The road to college success is also met with money concerns when here does not seem to be enough, proper money management can alleviate a lot of stress and leave more time for academic study. Smart money management begins with the simple truth about how much you have now, and how do you spend money. Being honest and admitting bad spending habits that exist, can lead to the road of financial freedom. In retrospect, many people have made purchases based on wants and not needs only to realize that they could not afford it once they got home. This does not make for bad character, just someone that doesn't manage their money properly. Credit cards can be the downfall everyone, think about it people literally buying their own money at a high interest rate. (Goetz at al 2011) stated that, research has shown that there are some groups of students who are "financially at risk" for acquiring high levels of debt and mismanaging credit (p.8). Bank of America (2008) stated that they "understand that successful financial management is complex, and when students do not learn to manage their finances effectively, their finances can end up managing them (p1). This can all be turned around by committing yourself to a plan that helps you live within your means. Accepting personal responsibility for money management is necessary and vital to a successful strategy for attending college. First, educate yourself by finding