Success, they say, is measured
In grades and academic scores
A test of mental fortitude
A sign of future doors

But what of those whose talents
Don't lie in books and tests?
Whose passions and ambitions
Can't be gauged by scantrons best?

What of the artists and dreamers
Whose gifts cannot be boxed?
The innovators and leaders
Whose brilliance can't be coaxed?

What of those who struggle
With the rigors of academia?
Whose strengths lie outside the classroom
In fields beyond the syllabus?

Success cannot be defined
By a single metric or score
For greatness takes many forms
And talent comes in many more

So let us not confine ourselves
To academic pursuits alone
For success is what we make it
And true greatness has no known.