Accountability is an important character trait to possess. It is valuable in all aspects of life. Accountability is about being responsible for your actions. I believe it to be a true sign of maturity.

I have not always been a mature person myself. Growing up, I was rather immature actually. I would hardly hold myself accountable for my actions. I did not even have a good understanding of what accountability actually meant. When I would miss school or do poorly at work, I would quite often blame others for my problems and mistakes. I could only live this way for so long before I realized that just because I was not holding myself accountable, did not mean that others felt the same. They could definitely see my responsibility, or irresponsibility for that matter, for my actions.

Over time, I grew and matured and decided that I was in control of my own destiny. There was no one else responsible for what happened to me. I had control of my own life and the things that happened in it.

Sometime after this realization, I started attending school again and decided I would make changes so that this experience would be different than before. I enrolled in a Web Design and Development course and actually applied myself to schoolwork. I found a new sense of pride in the work that I did. I began to feel accomplished and realized it was completely of my own doing.

It is much easier to hold yourself accountable when the outcome is desirable.

After attending school for some time, I applied for a programming internship and got the job. I now have more responsibilities and am held accountable not only at school but at work as well. If I make mistakes at school, I can ask my instructor for help (which I quite often do) in finding the problem. At my job on the other hand, I have to work much more independently. We work on live sites for clients. It’s not just homework anymore. If something happens to a clients website, they definitely hold us accountable. At the same time, we must hold others, like our hosting company, accountable for problems we may incur with them.

I am not only held responsible by clients at work but also by my boss. I must account for all the work I do on projects and the progress I make. It helps to keep everyone organized and on track.

A few years ago, I am not sure if I would have agreed with the first paragraph of this post. I realize more and more every day how important it is to be accountable at work and in my life in general.