How is success determined when the community’s definition and the outside worlds are very different?

Success can be measured by the willingness some students feel when taking over a family business or it could be there reach for a higher education. Do these things truly define success?

Our rural community has several family owned businesses, and many students may feel the pressure of taking up their families’ economic legacy. Some students futures are already predetermined for them, therefore, the student has no choice because there obligation to there family and honor is above all else.

With my own experience and knowledge of the history of Coos County and my relationships with many students, I have learned that some students views of success are very different than others.

Some are wanting to own a house, work construction and have a lot of acreage with animals and family; the simple things. While others feel success is defined by what you own and what you have; in short the dollar amount is their defining status holder.

Many of the most successful business owners are ones that have been inherited from prior family members who worked off the land and created entrepreneur relationships with people throughout the community. Relationships made with trading land and bargaining of items at farmers markets.

The counter argument could be the fact that the most educated people have been the most successful because of their willingness to create more for Coos County. One of these people is Joe Bennetti, he is a retired business owner and the current Mayor of Coos Bay. He had  the ability to network; by creating business and tourist life on the downtown strip only adding positive effects to our community.

Although success has no definition of measurement, I will define it by the way individuals impact people around them and their atmosphere.

The way you influence other people’s lives measures the impact you make on others and overall, the impact you make on the world.