How Do YOU Spell Success?

In junior high, way back when, during cheerleading try outs we learned this cheer  (I still remember the moves and I bet some of my buddies do too.) Anyhow the chant went like this :
S-U-C-C-E-S-S is the word that spells success, who's going to have it? Can't you guess? Nobody else 'cept FHS. 

Now thinking back on it, that chant was pretty competitive brainwashing regarding success and who is going to have it. Where do we get our values of achieving success in our society?       

This past week's Hispanic Heritage Month guest speaker social anthropologist Hilda Llorens from the U of RI shared her research on the UW-L campus on the Wellbeing, Success and Cultural Identity Among Latin Adolescents.

The study consisted of twenty 14-18 year old  Puerto Ricans in Hartford, Ct and Dominicans in Providence, Rhode Island who participated in two 1 1/2 hr interviews first to define success, identifying social disconnects, relationship of family and satisfaction with their lives. Questions like "How do you feel about your nationality?" How do others see you?"The second interview dealt with their "self" concept of body.

Yes, these young folks had goals of success, wanted happiness and recognized the need for food, a roof over their heads, a home, a car, hard work, a good salary: translated to be able to pay your bills, to get married, have children early and FAMILY. Honoring, respecting and helping one's family took precedence over the almighty dollar and academic success. 

The desire for education wasn't necessarily college but rather high school graduation with career aspirations of a useful profession  following familial paths in the service industry; for the Puerto Rican young ladies as nurses, firemen and police officers and for the Dominicans as hair stylists, hotel staff, small shop owners. These choices modeled what families had done in the tourist industry in their native home. BTW the Dominican population consisted of more recent immigrants.

Pursuing college aspiration out of town results in alienation. If they go home every weekend, they lose part of the college world experience/ if they don't, they become estranged from that familial connection. A lot of first generation students drop out without mentors on campus to help in adjusting and support.  Dr. Llorens was part of the Upward Bound program herself, a high school program that orients first generation students to campus life and studies pre-college. 

So besides the academic path which this age group really couldn't imagine,  the survey results showed many similarities of having a close to ideal life, being content/satisfied with their lives regardless of socioeconomics. Interesting?

Ethnic pride and familial support were these adolescents measures of success. What's your definition of success? 

BTW I never was successful of doing a really great 'herky' at the end of that cheer.