Keith Stone, Cub writer
Vivian Geilim, Cub writer
Students all over the world have varied views of what constitutes success, but at Beverly, the ideas of success are more diverse than most. Success is defined as the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the accomplishment of one’s goals. At Beverly however, students’ goals ranged from power and money, to family and love, to conquest and fulfilled desires.
Solomon Ortiz, a former United States congressman, believes that, “education is the key to success,” but many students at Beverly think otherwise.
“Success means your happiness,” sophomore Nate Anavim said. “If you’re happy every day, going to your job, having good family and friends, and generally happy, then you are successful.”
Anavim is not the only one who believes that there are many tenets necessary for a successful life. Not only is success in the eye of the beholder but it isn’t always clear.
“Success is a completely relative term. Personally, I view success as not necessarily achieving what I sought to do, but instead, simply giving it my best effort,” sophomore Blake Sloane said.
Another thing that many people feel is instrumental in achieving success is picking themselves up when they’ve fallen. In not letting themselves be beaten, these people feel that they were made stronger.
“I have been unsuccessful with DECA and it makes me motivated,” sophomore Samantha Kurtz said.
However, some people have a different take on success. To them, a happy family-based life is important, but as are material possessions.
For example, junior Marty Schnapp feels that, “In my opinion, material possessions hold importance in determining measurement of a successful life up until that individual has gathered enough wealth to live somewhat comfortably.”
Like many, he agrees that wealth is only an adequate measure of success and happiness, to a certain point.
“Studies show that accumulating more wealth will likely lead to a decrease in happiness as opposed to an increase. The leading regret among Americans lying on their deathbeds is not related to wealth, but that they did not spend enough time with their families,” Schnapp said. “I know that when I am old and looking back at my life, I will not determine my success by how much money I will have had accumulated, but by the relationships that I will have had created and the overall fulfillment of my life experience.”
To some people, like senior Jack Stone who will be attending Harvard College class of 2019 , high school was not only the first rung of the ladder, but also a tremendous opportunity for growth.
“[High school] has provided a great first step, by allowing me to grow mentally and be challenged. [It] is the first place I’d say for my transition to manhood,” Stone said.
 

While some feel that success is not necessarily good and can be a burden,  Stone vehemently disagrees with that statement.
“If success isn’t good, then are we to celebrate failure and tell people to ignore their hopes and dreams?”
According to junior Kyle Mehrian, success is not just a dream or an idea, it is something to shoot for, for every person.
“Success is the point at which a person reaches a state of happiness whether it’s by making money, becoming a doctor, a lawyer, etc. Each person’s definition to success is specific to that person, and them alone,” Mehrian said.
Mehrian is also one of the students at Beverly who has a plan in mind for how he would like his future to look.
For him, a successful life is is to “have a family and provide them with love, care, and financial stability so they can do the things that they yearn for without any second-thoughts or worries. Personally, I’d like to find a job that I enjoy doing while also making money, and go to a great university,” Mehrian said.
Mehrian is not the only one who sees college or higher education as a path to success.
Junior Shawn Ahdoot also understands the benefits of  “attending a four year university after high school. I think there are multiple benefits. One is that it allows me to begin my independent life. I will get a chance to be away from home and truly become my own person. Another is that it allows me to meet other people who are similarly motivated and high achievers so that I can build a network of people who may be helpful in the future. And finally it provides me with an education that will actually contribute a great deal to the career I choose and my life in general,”
Mehrian also feels heavily influenced by outside factors both negative and positive that have a tremendous impact on his life and future.
“Everything around you influences you, your classmates and school drive you to compete and drive you to the point at which you improve and become a better student. The expectations of society and the expectations of your coaches push you athletically but things also deter that motivation; alcohol, partying, friends, [these] all contribute to a decrease in motivation and push you away from being what you can be although all these factors impact your thought process, a strong willed person will persevere and will be able to manipulate their environment, creating one that promotes growth and motivation; you control you.”  
 
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