Students mostly cite the money factor; but many rate a good family life and helping other people as more important. Atia Rabbani reports
H ow do you define success? Just as important, how do you achieve it? Those were the questions Notes asked a sampling of college students across campuses in the UAE. The answers ranged from students perceiving success as mostly a money factor, all the way to spiritual well-being.
"To me, success is fame," said Aseel Qussem Al Zoubi, 18, a freshman at the University of Sharjah. It seems many other students have the same or a similar perceptions.
So what is success really? Is it our lifestyle, how much money we make or is it fame? Students answered three simple questions: what they look for in life, their definition of success and what factors they need to be successful.
"I want to become a famous businesswoman one day. I need love from my close friends and family, and to be close to Allah so that He can guide me in the right way," continued Al Zoubi.
It's all about money
Marwan Al Kadi, also University of Sharjah student, said: "It's all about the money." A marketing and finance major, he said what he wants most from life is "money, happiness and the ability to help people."
Al Kadi said: "Success is how much money you make. Having a good family is also a main ingredient for success and personally for me success is to be able to help people in everyday lives."
Akif Khan, 21, a junior studying pharmacy at Sharjah Medical College, disagreed with Al Kadi.
He wants "the love of family and friends" the most from life and "not a lot of money."
He said: "Success to me would be to finish my bachelors, get my masters and find a decent job. I rely on God, my parents and definitely my friends to give me the willpower to succeed."
Buying power
"In life, my target is to become rich and successful," said Nilofar Zia, 20, a sophomore at the American University in Dubai. So how would she define success? "It is the point in life when I have enough money to buy the things that I want!"
And how would one get to that point? "My degree. I want to graduate with honours," said Zia.
Mona Monica Al Kattan, 21, a finance senior at AUS, is seeking "self-fulfilment from life".
"I need to feel like I have accomplished something and helped somebody," said Al Kattan.
She said success is "ever-changing" and "at different points in your life, success is always different.
Set goals
"The first thing that people need to remember is that they need to strive to their highest potential; not set your standards too high or too low. Be realistic but be ambitious at the same time.
"If you want to be successful in life, you need to set a goal, work hard and keep a positive attitude. My goals are to do well in my studies and with my family."
Worried about majors
Maysun Nimr, manager of Career Advising and Placement Services at AUS, said students often come to her worried about their choice of majors in university and whether it will lead them to the right career.
"They come to us concerned about job opportunities at the end of their academic studies. They want to know how to prepare for that ideal job: resumes, networking, interviews etc," she said.
She added students' concepts of success are different from one another and it "depends on their motivation. "Some students only ask for a high salary. Some want to start at a multinational company with low pay but want to go higher later on."
Nimr said success to her is "not only money. It is self-satisfaction and self-gratification and growing up to be a better person. Success, just like self-respect, is earned and not just given to you."
The psychology behind it
The fact that most of these students want money most from life leaves one wondering: is money the path to a successful life? Does it guarantee happiness and health?
Assistant professor of psychology Dr Anatoly Kharkhurin, from the American University of Sharjah, said: "We have various fields in psychology regarding success. However, the one that is most concerned with success is Roger's and Maslow's theory of the Humanistic Perspective. These are two theories that study human goals - what we do and why we do it."
Kharkhurin spoke about Maslow's theory of "self-actualisation." He said: "This is the state of mind in which the person realises all his or her potentials and actualises them."
'Everyone has potential'
Kharkhurin added, "Everyone has potential. If you reach the ultimate level of your potential, then you have accomplished professionally, spiritually or in any other regard."
According to Kharkhurin, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs has five levels of needs. At the bottom of the list is "physiological needs, then safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs and finally self-actualisation" at the top of the pyramid.
Materialism
When asked what the reason was behind so many students' materialistic approach to success, Kharkhurin replied: "Money can buy stuff. Without money you cannot buy the things you need. Without it you cannot be successful.
"Students probably consider this as the most important component, thinking that if they have money, they have everything. But money cannot buy love or self-esteem.
"In contemporary society, money reflects success but it doesn't work the other way round. If you have money, it doesn't mean that you are successful or self-actualised. Spiritual development doesn't consist of money."
The writer is a student of the American University of Sharjah
