Throughout the last two years of my high school life, and even in the beginning months of my early college life, I've constantly been told that I'm lucky. I'd always receive compliments like "You're so lucky to be doing [this] and [that]", or something along the lines of "I wish I were you because you're so lucky to have all these accomplishments". I admit that I am pretty proud of what I was able to do as a high schooler and what I've already set myself up to do in college, but it always interested me to see how others viewed these accomplishments in comparison to how I viewed them. It's funny because, to others, what I have been able to do so far are just these achievements and positions to boost my status or to build my resume-- but to me, they represent so much more than that.

Nowadays, competition is a big part of everyday life. Whether it's in the world of business, in athletics, or in today's education system, competition plays a big role in how things are done. It's the reason why so many people pile their plate with advanced classes, sports, or extracurricular activities. It's why it's understandable to see how others react whenever they hear that you've gotten some big leadership position or have received the title of MVP for your sports team. To many people, these are just titles, and little do they know that these titles only scratch the surface of what they actually mean.

To others, you may seem "lucky" because of all these titles you've obtained: 1st place winner in this competition, President of this club, valedictorian of your school, etc. But the most important part of these titles is what they mean to you. When people call me lucky for having these accomplishments, I thought about it and found myself to be lucky in a different way. I was lucky, not because I had these accomplishments to boast about, but because I had found passion in leadership and in the extracurricular activities that I was involved in. I was lucky because I loved what I was doing, and had found ways to grow as a person and as a leader through them. At the same time, it wasn't luck that gave me these achievements; it was the effort, dedication, and commitment that I put in that gave me the ability to accomplish more than what I could imagine at the time.

So whenever you hear that a person you know turned out to be a well-known leader for an organization, or a big shot player for a sports team or a competition, don't think about their title. Think about their passions, their effort, and their motivation to become what they are/were; applaud them for working hard and not just for their luck in achieving their goals.