Why the Summit Is Not the Point
BY TERRI JEWETT, M.ED., PROFESSIONAL INSTRUCTORShare
Terri Jewett was reading a book called Word by Word by Marilyn McEntyre when a short reflection stopped her. The passage was about process and product, and how easily the two are confused.
McEntyre uses hiking as her example. When you hike, the summit is usually the goal. You picture the view. You measure success by whether you reach the top. But anyone who has spent time on a trail knows the summit is not always what you imagined. Sometimes it is crowded. Sometimes the view is underwhelming. And often, the moments that stay with you have nothing to do with reaching the end.
It is the wildflowers along the path. The wildlife you did not expect to see. The struggle of the climb. The strength you discover when the trail gets harder than you planned. Those moments are not the goal, but they are where the meaning lives.
That idea resonated with Jewett because it mirrors what she sees in education.
In schools, there is constant pressure to focus on outcomes. Grades. Scores. Benchmarks. Where students are supposed to end up. When the focus stays there, it becomes easy to overlook what is happening along the way. The relationships formed in the classroom. The growth that comes slowly. The learning that happens through difficulty and persistence.
Jewett sees this pattern beyond education as well. Students, teachers, parents, athletes, artists, anyone navigating multiple roles can become fixated on where they think they should be. In that mindset, meaningful moments slip past unnoticed. The people who shape us. The lessons learned through struggle. The quiet progress that does not show up in a final result.
McEntyre returns to this idea at the end of her reflection by reframing control. The results, she suggests, are not fully ours to manage. Those belong to God. What we are responsible for is the process. How we show up. How we move through our work. How we attend to growth instead of rushing toward an outcome.
That perspective has stayed with Jewett. It reminds her to move through life and work with intention, paying attention to the process rather than gripping the product too tightly. Trusting that results will come. Believing that purpose is formed along the way.
Because when the focus shifts from the finish line to the path itself, meaning becomes easier to see.
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