Being a senior in high school is quite possibly the most trivial moment in a person’s life. It’s at this moment you must decide who you are and where you’re going to go from here. Not only have you worked 18 years to get here, but you will continue to work 80 more until you have achieved your life goals and can leave this earth with peace of mind.

When three Arlington High School seniors were asked about their accomplishments so far, a look of puzzlement washed over each one of their faces almost identically. “Umm… I don’t know,” they all replied. Then when prompted a bit more to answer the question three pretty superficial answers were given.

“I’m going to graduate,” said Aja Harrsch.

“Well, I’ve been in band for 8 years, I’m proud that I’ve stuck with something that long,” said Cassie Hageman.

“I’ve had good grades in school,” said Svea Dean.

Of course any of us would be proud to graduate, have good grades, or be in an extra curricular activity. But how about things that are unique to our personal lives? An accomplishment doesn’t have to be something you should be proud of because everyone else is proud of it in themselves. An accomplishment can be the fact that you’ve made enough money working at the outlet mall to put a down payment on the car of your dreams, or even that you finally learned how to cook dinner for your whole family and you now do it once a week.

What you see people accomplishing around you does not have to reflect what you are proud of accomplishing. The reason so many blank stares were received when asking about the accomplishments of seniors could fall blame to the fact that seniors in high school don’t really know what they’re supposed to be proud of. Their peers are all on different paths from themselves and when comparing lives it can be hard to recognize one’s own accomplishments.

Take this moment in your life as a new opportunity to create your own accomplishments and achieve your own personal goals. The adult world is going to be confusing and scary at times, anyone who tells you differently is too self-righteous to admit that they’ve struggled. But by focusing on your own goals, this life will allow you to discover that those who surround you do not define you.