Students' Opinions on Their Competences for Reaching Life Success

Life success is an equivocal and a highly subjective notion. Nevertheless, for a lot of people it constitutes an important parameter which they rely on when assessing their life achievements, experiences and decisions. It is a parameter which they use to define their life strategies, aspirations and objectives. Higher education gives students an opportunity to enhance their competences for reaching professional success. However, professional success is only a component of a holistically-defined life success. This is why the author has decided to determine if students of education studies have their definitions of life success, and if they assess their chances of reaching it, and if so, under what conditions. Research results show that the subjects define life success as a multicomponent concept: life success means to them reaching their private and professional objectives in a balanced way. Students admit being apprehensive of failing to reach professional success. The criteria that influence reaching life success include - in the students' opinion - their own actions and external factors. They also believe that education studies do not give them sufficient opportunities to develop their competences for reaching life success, despite the considerable amount of knowledge that the academic courses offer. The students point out to their low level of self-esteem as the most vital hindrance on their way to success. Unfortunately, in their opinion, their academic studies do not help them develop in this respect.