All roads lead to Rome: Academic Achievements aren’t the Only Solutions

“What if I fail to get into an Ivy League College?”

“What if my dream job rejects me?”

“My life will be a mess if I don’t get this offer.”

“There is no way for me to have a successful life if I don’t win this competition.”

Just remember the idiom “All roads lead to Rome”, there can be many ways to accomplish the same achievement, some take longer time but some shorter. At the end of the day, all the solutions can take you to Rome.

Let’s take college admission as an example. Almost everyone correlates college admission with success in the future. Many think that if they fail to get into a prestigious college,their lives will be ruined forever by one single college rejection letter. This is an overstatement, no lives will be ruined.

In fact, some people that went to prestigious colleges end up loosening up themselves, because they think their lives are successful enough already. They will start to not pay attention in classes in college, and develop bad habits that can actually ruin their lives.

There are many people who are upset about the college application results, but still end up having a successful life. They would work hard in their four years in college, and earn a master degree in a more prestigious institution someday. Hard work can take them to Rome, not necessarily good grades from the start.

Famous people can also be categorized into this idiom, for instance, Jack Ma had terrible grades during elementary school but he ended up as one of the most successful Asian entrepreuneur who owns a company named Alibaba. He has talents for setting up a business, this made his life successful and not the grades he had in elementary. Grades are not the only solution.