Scientists have confirmed that a link does exist between how students behave in high school and their future success in life.
According to a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, obedient students who do their homework and are engaged tend to achieve great success regardless of their Intelligence Quotient (IQ).
Students with these qualities generally achieve career and academic success regardless of whether they come from humble or privileged backgrounds.
The study affirmed that soft skills, which are based on emotional intelligence, are a much more reliable indicator of future success compared to intelligence or wealth.
Those who develop qualities such as work ethic early have a head-start over those who pick up damaging behaviours.
[caption caption="President Uhuru Kenyatta with students of Alliance Girls High School"]
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“Adolescence is the age at which a person’s personality and identity are formed.
"It, therefore, makes sense that if a teenager learns a good work ethic at this point in their lives, they are likely to carry it with them for the rest of their lives,” Prof Catherine Gachutha, a counselling psychologist told The Nation.
However, it is not always this black and white.
Students who have qualities that are generally discouraged by discipline-masters, such as those who are rebellious, also turn out to be quite successful in many cases.
A good example of this would be lawyer Senator James Orengo and Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter, who faced several disciplinary cases during their time in school.
Further away from home, Microsoft founder and one of the world's richest men, Bill Gates, was considered quite disagreeable growing up. His father revealed that he once had to throw a glass of water at his face to get him to shut up.
Angela Duckworth, an American psychologist, concluded that the most important indicator of future success was not intelligence or social status, but grit.
"It was grit — passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is stamina, the ability to stick with a task until the end. Grit is living life like a marathon, not a sprint," she explained.
[caption caption="File image of Form Four candidates at Aga Khan High School, Mombasa County sitting for KCSE exams"]
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