Success is Subjective: Helping parents of college students accept that dropping out is okay

Episode 58 - Being Flexible with the Idea of Success —with Emma Byers

April 20, 2021 Joanna Lilley, MA, NCC Season 1 Episode 58
Success is Subjective: Helping parents of college students accept that dropping out is okay
Episode 58 - Being Flexible with the Idea of Success —with Emma Byers
Show Notes

There are so many things that can happen that are completely out of anyone’s control. The only thing that you will always have control of is your reaction to what happens to you. When you do that, finding a sense of success usually comes naturally.

Emma Byers, Community Engagement Coordinator at Turing School, didn’t envision her life to go the way it has. As she went into college, she was deceived by an easy freshman year that everything was going to be great from then on. Though, in Emma’s sophomore year, she found herself really struggling with her mental health causing it to be difficult to function. Luckily through support from staff, friends, and family, Emma was able to come out stronger and continue her college journey. Now, Emma is able to use her story to connect with students in their college experience.

On this episode of Success is Subjective, Emma joins Joanna to share her journey going from struggling to live life, to now using her story and the support she has experienced to pay it forward to struggling students. Even though Emma finds herself on a different success trajectory than where she envisioned herself, she wouldn’t have it any other way. Listen in for Emma’s insight on the idea of being flexible with the idea of success and how that’s improved her own personal journey.

What You Will Learn

  • Freshmen year was “too easy” and by Sophomore year she couldn’t get out bed due to mental health 
  • How Emma had to find a new idea of success 
  • Shout out to Nancy Bristow, Jill Nealy-Moore, and Debbie Chee for being the “dream team” of supporters that she leaned heavily on! 
  • How important having a support system was for Emma’s mental health journey
  • Being misdiagnosed with depression and anxiety 
  • In hindsight, she said that taking a break could not have hurt, especially because college isn’t going anywhere 
  • Where Emma finds herself now and how it’s a different success trajectory than what she pictured but she wouldn't have it any other way
  • She brought up this Maya Angelou’s quote, “I can be changed by what happens to be, but I refuse to be reduced by it,” saying that’s become nearly a mantra for her in her adult life. 
  • The importance of being flexible with the idea of success because life isn’t linear

Connect with Emma Byers

Connect with Joanna Lilley