Forget success, focus on love

Yesterday people everywhere celebrated the love they have for others, and it seems like a great opportunity to take a break from politics (I know, it's a crazy idea!) and reflect on what is really important in life.\nIf you think about it, Valentine's Day while in college is a bit of a contradiction. After all, the reason that most everyone goes to college is to pursue some sort of a career. It's a time when everyone (theoretically, at least) devotes his or her life to studies and to bettering himself to be an attractive candidate for as high-paying a job as is available upon graduation. \nContrast this devotion to studies with the devotion that is necessary to love those close to you and all people, in general. What is one to do? That's the question I was confronted with when I came to IU last August. For the first time in my life, I left my family and all those I care about at home and moved into an intensely academic environment. A place where, seemingly, the definition of success is to have better grades and a stronger resume than the next person. It was a whole new world to me. People, not grades, have always been more important. But now that I've taken a few semesters worth of classes, I've learned the magic reason why people come to college. To succeed.\nI know that it seems fairly obvious that success is the main reason to come to college. But what is success? To do better than others, right? To get good grades and become rich? That is the standard response that I get, but it's a response that I can't accept.\nSuccess isn't being rich; success is being happy and, while working hard for yourself, not forgetting others.\nUnfortunately, it seems like this is a goal that is all too often forgotten. A recent study by Phoenix Home Life Mutual Insurance Co. found 58 percent of people ages 12 to 22 considered having enough money in life as being "very important to my happiness." This large percentage who consider money important to happiness makes me wonder how far many are willing to go to be rich. \nAre people willing to work so hard that they sacrifice their loved ones and their family? Is personal gain worth it if it comes as a result of others, for example, being laid off? I don't purport to know how most students would answer these questions. But I do know that I have encountered students whose sole goal is to be "successful." And, by "successful," I mean being rich.\nMaybe we should take a selfless day such as Valentine's Day to think about others. Not only that special someone, but also our family and all of mankind. I never tire of hearing people, young and old, tell me that they gain so much more by helping others than they ever could gain by having a big paycheck and a nice car.\nI only hope that someday, looking back on my life, I will be able to make the same statement. But, for now, I encourage all students to take a step back from busy schedules and really consider the plight of others. Maybe I'm being ignorant and monetary gain is not a major goal of most students. I hope that is the case. But I suspect that forgetting about "success" for a while and appreciating others will allow many to learn a great lesson this Valentine's Day.