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Features

Achievements Versus

Accomplishments

By Dr. Beverly Hall-Maughan,

2024 International Achievement Award Recipient

Each year, The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International recognizes one

member for distinguished service to the Society. From recommendations

submitted by members, chapters, or state organizations, the
international executive board selects a member for this honor,
symbolized by a gold medallion presented

to the recipient. We invited 2024 winner

Dr. Beverly Hall-Maughan to share
thoughts about DKG.

After being honored with the DKG International
Achievement Award, I took time to ponder
the differences between achievement and
accomplishment. Are these two terms
interchangeable, or do they have different
connotations? While using the thesaurus tool in
Microsoft Word, I noticed that both words are
often used as synonyms for the other.
According to Merriam-Webster (2019),
achievement is defined as a “result gained by effort”
and accomplishment is defined as “the act of bringing
to full success.” To break it down further, achieving
means succeeding in something, obtaining a desired
result, or winning, while accomplishing is about
completing a task, objective, or goal.
Achievement involves a continuous
process of growth and progress that often
benefits oneself, whereas accomplishment is
more about benefiting others and the world
outside of oneself. Achievements tend to
focus on personal or individual results,
while accomplishments often involve shared
achievements. Accomplishments lead to
achievement, but do achievements lead to
accomplishments?

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Collegial Exchange · 7
Collegial Exchange
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