GRE Issue Topic 137

Sample 1:

People set goals that are sometimes simple and at other times complex. Rare is the individual who hasn't created a New Year's resolution to exercise more, lose weight, or quit smoking. Rarer still is the individual who has managed to keep that resolution. As important as individual goals are, so are those set by leaders in business, science and government. When the president of a country sets goals for his term of office, he considers the welfare of all citizens. When a CEO sets a goal for his company, he hopes that achieving it will benefit his workers and shareholders. Scientists hope to improve the lives of all humans when he sets a goal to discover a treatment for a deadly disease. Small and personal or grand and universal, all goals are indications of people's seeking success.

Just yesterday morning, I watched as an IT specialist from North Carolina set off from a soccer field near my house to cross the Atlantic in a cluster balloon, a journey predicted to take from three to six days with the possibility of landing anywhere from Norway to Africa. It was like a scene from the movie Up as 365 colored, helium–filled balloons lifted Jonathan Trappe and his rubber boat silently into the air. The fantastic craft quickly disappeared into the morning mist. This same man has flown cluster balloons over the Alps and across the English Channel, but this was to be his most ambitious undertaking. It is unfortunate that this journey ended in Newfoundland just twelve hours after it began. However, if success were to be measured by the goals one sets for himself, Mr. Trappe would, indeed, be considered successful.

It could be argued that setting goals that are easily attainable is not real success. The poet Robert Browning said, “a man's reach should exceed his grasp." Man should strive for achievements beyond his current ability. It is the only way to grow. When Christa McAuliffe was a young girl, she told a friend that she wanted to go into space someday. The opportunity arose when President Reagan made the decision to put a teacher on the space shuttle. Christa applied and saw her goal realized when she was selected to be the first teacher in space where she planned to present lessons live from the Challenger. Less than a minute after takeoff, the shuttle broke apart and McAuliffe, along with the rest of the crew, was killed. Although her mission was cut short, she has been lauded for setting a lofty goal and undergoing the rigorous training to become an astronaut. Had the Wright Brothers not set a goal of achieving manned flight in the earliest decade of the twentieth century, space travel likely would have occurred much later. Orville and Wilbur Wright could have lived out the rest of their lives building and repairing bicycles, setting and achieving the goal of customer satisfaction with their excellent workmanship. However, setting loftier goals, the Wright brothers not only achieved success for themselves but inspired generations of fliers.

Ordinary individuals set their sights on reaching significant goals as well. They want to become more fit, so they join a gym. They want to lose a few or many pounds, so they join Weight Watchers. They want to quit smoking, so they join a cessation program at their local hospital. They all begin with great resolve and enthusiasm. After a few weeks, visits to the gym become less frequent, cake and ice cream become more appealing than pounds lost, and a cigarette after dinner becomes irresistible. Some of these individuals will fail to meet their goals, but others will try again and ultimately succeed. Without setting goals in the first place, they surely would have failed.

Many who have reached outstanding levels of achievement did not succeed in reaching their goals with their first attempt. The Wright brothers built many airplanes that failed to fly. Three NASA astronauts, including Gus Grissom, died in a prelaunch test in 1967. Civil Rights workers were murdered in Mississippi. Setbacks did not stop the progress of flight, the space race, or the Civil Rights Movement. Failure is not measured by an individual’s inability to meet his or her goals. Failure is the result of giving up or not trying at all. Setting a goal is the first step on the road to success.