We've been discussing lately the topic of accomplishment/achievement/attainment (add synonym here ;-), factors that may foster or impede it, and the importance of creating the right mindset.
With one of the C1 groups we actually had a super interesting conversation about my students' greatest accomplishments and the guys and girls came up with all kinds of poignant stories about personal growth, achievements in the face of difficulty, professional feats, successful family upbringing, realization and acceptance of family conflicts, etc... Really, really neat stories, I have to say.
I also spoke about my greatest achievement so far: well, an obvious pick would have been having earned my position for life in the job that I love in the last competitive exams (for secondary education, music and arts and language schools), held in 2015. I'm pretty sure that that is a turning point in any teacher's life and you bet I felt elated and- of course- relieved, as any one would. On those days circa July 2015 I spent 99% of the time on cloud nine and money happily spent on celebrating and buying the guys meals and drinks easily reached the four digits. Yeah, that may have been a highlight in the life of yours truly, but...
I wouldn't say that particular deed has been my greatest accomplishment. By doing so, I would have to admit that it would inevitably dwarf any other, later things achieved and I don't even feel that way. Believe me, getting your lifetime job is nothing compared to the complete realization that I will never stop learning new things and, with the right mindset, enjoying that journey. Having this full-on optimistic outlook on life makes me wanna jump every single day out of my bed and embrace new challenges and enjoy the ride in any goal- personal, professional, fitness and health-, leaving little room for despair and downheartedness. We will not last forever, unfortunately, so it is futile to cry over spilled milk and especially, over trivial things that do not matter that much at the end of the day. So, voila, that's been my greatest feat so far!
What about you? What has been YOUR biggest accomplishment?
Please, feel free to comment on the- duh- comments section
Enjoy!
It seems to me that life is like a run achieving goal after goal. Personally, it is quite difficult to choose just one. Thinking backwards, if I had to choose some, the most important milestones would be probably two: getting my degree and succeeding at my daughter’s custody.
ReplyDeleteWhen I reached the COU school year, I realized that there was a mark to get into college. My marks were pretty good but, there might be not enough. . So, I studied hard and finally I got the top mark which allowed me to choose the college I was looking forward to. However, the most important fact was that my family and me had to work together at a restaurant to earn enough to pay my degree and also my sister’s degree. These years we learned that working hard usually is the way.
Likewise, it was an enormous effort be able to keep present at my daughter’s life after my divorce. I have had two years of trials and an unexpected fight against an outdated judge who couldn’t understand that men can take care of children same as the women. He had even committed some offenses that I had to sue, we wasn't sentenced though. Finally, with the help of my lawyer and my current wife we achieved to catch him with a fake sentence and we got the shared custody of my daughter when we moved to Murcia, where her mother was gone from Valencia one year before. Luckily, nowadays I spend the half of my time with my daughter Jimena who is one of my top bases in life.
Hey Vicent, thanks so much for this great write-up. Definitely two great feats, the ones you wrote about.
DeleteI've lately come to the conclusion that finding obstacles in your way and coping with them and getting over them makes one mature and learn to an extent that a problem-free life just can't. But that's maybe just my impression, so don't quote me for that!
Language-wise, your comment is pretty spot on, notwithstanding the following observations:
- "Thinking backwards" sounds kinda weird, I'd use "looking back" or "in hindsight" instead.
- "my marks were good but there might not be enough" should read "... but they/those might not have been good enough" instead.
- "Too earn enough to pay..." again, does not sound 100% good. Try saying "... at a restaurant to afford to pay..."
- "THOSE years"
In the second paragraph, "I have had two years of trials..." should say something like "I HAD spent two years IN COURT"
"... we wasn't sentenced, though" should in any case read "WEREN'T"
- "where her mother was gone from Valencia"... I'm not 100% sure if that's completely clear "where her mother had left for/moved to Valencia one yhear before"
Otherwise, a really cool text, buddy!
Since I was a child, Iˈve dreamed of becoming a teacher. Over the years, I have been following all the steps to achieve it. In fact, I did the career of Philology and I got the C.A.P. Recently, I came back to University to do a Master in General and Applied Linguistics. All this to, on one hand, deepen my knowledge, and, on the other hand, to achieve my goal.
ReplyDeleteThe truth is that I havenˈt achieved a permanent job yet as a secondary teacher, as I would have liked. However, I had the chance to work in public education in Castilla-La Mancha thanks to the fact of having passed the Civil Servant Exams in 2010 in that region.
So, I guess I should consider this accomplishment as my biggest achievement so far. Despite of the years, the scarcity of opportunities and the huge difficulty of getting a fixed job, I face it with a positive mindset thinking that one day my turn will come.
Great words, Laura! Of course having a positive mindset is crucial for accomplishing the goals we set out to!
DeletePerfect writing. However, instead of "my turn will come", I would have used "my DAY will come". But it does not sound funny or wrong, or anything!
Thanks!
My biggest accomplishment so far was the becoming a Primary Education teacher because at the beginning I thought I wasn´t able to deal with pupils and to sort out the different difficulties you cand face when you are dealing with them and their families. However, I liked the first time I taught in front of pupils. It was an unforgettable experiencie. In addition to this, I think that I like giving the pupils opportunities to transform this horrible world into a newer and better one. Children are the hope of our nations in a terrible world full of hate, wars and greed destroying the rights of all the human beings. Therefore, that is the main reason why I like my job because it is the most powerful job from my point of view. This is the powerful of trying that new generations can change everything wrong in our society.
ReplyDeleteThat's the spirit young and upcoming teachers should show! You can tell teaching is an actual vocation for you and I really hope anyone who's that enthusiastic about a job can get what they deserve!
DeletePay attention to these pieces of feedback, though!
- "Experience" (check your spelling. I'm sure it must've been a typo)
- Try not to neglect punctuation marks, as they contribute to understanding a test better.
- Remember! Word formation processes and understanding them is key! ("this is the POWER of trying to get new generations to change everything...")
Thanks for your words!
My biggest achievement is without doubt what I had done when I was thirty years old. At that time I felt totally depressed for a number of reasons I would not disclose here.
ReplyDeleteOne morning I woke up and decided to pack up few belongings and walked out of my life.As a drifter I did not have clear where to go but in the end I picked out the full length of the Camino de Santiago.
At the beginning it was phisically and emotionally very hard and sometimes I wanted to give it up as it was my usual behave.
When I was on the edge of leaving, someone told me: Do not do that or you´ll regret it!!! so he encouraged me to carry on.
Even if I had blisters and muscles pain in all my body after a few days I started to feel better.
People´s goal was to get to Santiago but I started to realize that it wasn´t what it mattered. For me the personal growth was into the journey and started to forget where I was going to.
One of the many lessons I learned was that we get our goals day by day and we do not need so many things for living.
I started with a bagpack of 15 kilos and I ended up only with 6 Kilos!!!
I will also never forget all the amazing People I met along the way. I am still in touch with some of them. When I come back home I was a new born person and I left my depression on the way
Great words, Guillermo! I never walked myself the Camino de Santiago route, nor did I ever seriously consider doing it, but for many people I know, doing it was a sort of personal best not devoid of spiritual and introspective connotations, so props to you, man.
DeleteAbout the text itself, it is pretty good, almost impeccable, notwithstanding a couple of inaccuracies:
- "... what I DID when I was thirty..."
- "... as it was my usual attitude/ BEHAVIOR/ ... as I would've likely done back then"
- "I started to realize that it wasn't what (really) mattered (without IT)
- "When I CAME back home..."
Great, nonetheless
My greatest achievement after long years of hard working and personal experiences is feeling proud of my failures too. Trying is sometimes better than succeding and teaches deep lessons than feats don't do.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure about what is my biggest achievement, but I'm pretty proud of my two years as iconography teacher at the university. When I was student I was really interested in the first years of christian religion, so I applied to became student at Roma Tre university. There I studied with the most famous experts in iconography. Most of the people told me that i was losing my time and my money but I was happy because I was doing what I wanted. Some years latter, a private university called a profesor of university of Murcia to join they but he refuse because of poor amount of money that they offered him, this was my opportunity to work as a bad paid iconography teacher at the university but i enjoyed a lot.
ReplyDeleteDear Alfonso, a band which I kinda like opens one of their most famous records with the following line: "it is better to regret something you have done, than to regret something you haven't done", so I think even if you missed an opportunity, I'm sure you did the right thing, as tying yourself up to a job you're not enthusiastic about is rarely a good choice.
DeleteA couple of things:
- when talking about professions/ occupations, etc, always use A/AN before the noun (AN iconography teacher...)
- Most people told me I was WASTING my time and money...
- Some years LATER (spelling)
- a PROFESSOR (spelling) of THE university...
- ... but he REFUSED
- ... to work as a BADLY paid...
Even if I think my life is still short ( at least I hope so, much more to enjoy!) I have been quite adventurous all along this journey and I already feel proud for it.An example of this adventurous character have been the years I was living in England...those days brought me pains but rewards as well such us my First Certificate in English which I got in a secondary school in Solihull, where I met a lot of nice people too, so it was a nice experience which I would recommend to any english student.
ReplyDeleteBeen in England, I achieved asweel a dream I always fancy to fullfill, live and survive in another country by myself.I started working as a waitress and in less than a year I got the supervisor position of the restaurant without any previous experience, only my hard work and commitment to what I was doing ( overcoming as well a hard interview with my manager who told me that I was too ambitious...).Nowadays, my biggest achievement is to rise a family because this experience is a non ending adventure which bring me alive and teach me something new every day giving me the strength to bring out the best in me.
Awesome words, María Jesús. Really, really inspiring, my friend. That kind of experience really says something about a person and the courage they need to muster up to fully abandon their comfort zone.
DeleteJust a couple of things:
- (probably a typo): "such AS my..."
- BEING in England, I achieved ALONG WITH a dream I always had fancied, LIVING AND SURVIVING in...
- you probably meant to RAISE/BRING UP a family...
- ... which BRINGS me alive and TEACHERS something...
Great words, nevertheless.
In this regard and to be honest, I hadn’t thought about anyone before I was told to think and write about one. So, mine was circa May 2006, and it’s been to take up a new job as a builder and being able to enter into the Official School of Languages and making the grade in the latter as well as in the former.
ReplyDeleteOn top of that, I have to say that from some years ago, self-improvement has played a great role in my life, what it would surely dwarf any other achievement I could pursue or reach in the outer world.
Superb words and attitude, my friend!
DeleteI think you tried to mean "... I hadn't thought about ANYTHING before..." don't you?
"DOING the degree" sounds better than MAKING...
- "from some years ago ON/ since some years ago..."
Thanks so much!
I don't really know how to start writing about this topic because I have managed some important achievements throughout my life. However, I could highlight some of them as for example achieving to finish my Degree in Mechanical Engineering. Personally, I always stood out in arts more than sciences; however I thought that Engineering was a better option for the future as it would have more job opportunities. Despite this, when I first started the course I discovered that I was better in sciences than I thought and I loved what I was doing. Little by little I passed the different subjects and I started regarding myself as a future engineer. After finishing the degree, I worked as an engineer in private companies until I discovered that what I really like was teaching. Because this last field was not related with what I studied previuosly I had to renew myself and study a Master in Education that had nothing to do with what I worked in previously. Anyways, the degree I studied, in combination with the Master, let me teach nowadays at the high-school and professional training (F.P.) where I can use the technical knowledge I acquired during all these years of studies.
ReplyDelete