What does success mean to you? Perhaps it’s buying the car of your dreams, receiving a pay rise at work or living in a luxurious house? Sometimes success can often be misconstrued with wealth. When I think of success, I think of achieving a dream or desire which leads to overall happiness.
We are constantly bombarded with social media messages which imply that other people’s lives are much ‘richer’ than our own; glamourised images of what success really means. TV programmes claim to give us all the tips we need to be an overnight success but we must remember that reaching our own personal targets can take a long time.
Success comes in many forms at Bethany School. For example: former pupil, Xiwen Zhang, was included in this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Europe for her luxury sunglasses company For Art’s Sake; 15 of our aspiring actors recently received another set of excellent LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) results this term as they all gained distinctions; and our A level academic progress performance at the end of Year 12 in 2018 was the third highest in Kent, beating all other independent secondary schools and colleges with Sixth Form in the county.
A well-known adage, which may come as a surprise to our pupils, is that failure acknowledged is part and parcel of the journey to success. There are many famous examples – we’ve all heard the story of JK Rowling’s manuscripts being rejected time and time again before finally having her first Harry Potter book published.
Our pupils are encouraged to go beyond their comfort zone in order to achieve success. Our activities programme which takes place outside the classroom in the afternoons enriches the independent thinking and interpersonal skills of our pupils.
As we break for half term, some pupils will be embarking on a ski trip to Les Deux Alpes and many of those pupils have not skied before, some have not been away from their parents for such a long period of time, and some are contending with both! However, I have no doubt that they will have a fantastic time and that such trips will help them to becoming well rounded, independent-thinking young people.
I believe there are two personality traits which successful people have and there are independent of race, gender nationality and profession. Successful people work hard and have good people skills.
Therefore, let’s keep life simple work hard (never give up) and get on well with those around you. If you do this, then the sky is the limit.
Bethany School Blog 