1)
A failure I can think of off the top of my head
is earlier in the semester I repeatedly failed at chemistry practice exams
while preparing for an upcoming test. I
was doing dozens and dozens of practice problems, each of which had the same
outcome, which was me going online to figure out how to do the problem. I did
not have any other choice but to do well on the exam, and I ended up pulling
two all-nighters in a row and finally figured out how to do the problems
correctly. I ended up doing well on the test, but that feeling of repeated
failure after time and time again of practicing was not a good feeling. I felt
helpless and contemplated changing my major because of it.
2)
From this, I learned what I am actually capable
of doing if I set my mind to it. If someone told me that I would pull two
all-nighters in a row just to study for an exam I would have told them that
they were crazy. However, when I was faced with a time when I had no other
choice but to stay up all night and learn the material, that is what I did. It
was extremely rewarding when I got a good grade on the test. I also learned
that it is insane that students stress themselves out over a simple numerical
grade that realistically means nothing in the real world, however that is a
topic for a different conversation.
3)
In general, as much as failure hurts and can be
difficult, I believe that it is vital to coming back a stronger and better
person in various aspects of life. In the moment, I felt terrible when I failed.
Maybe even depressed at times. However, whenever I look back on my failures
compared to where I am today, I realize that those failures taught me valuable lessons
that helped me get to where I am today in all areas of life. Personally, I
handle failure in such a way that probably isn’t the healthiest. Whenever I
feel anything but happy, I keep all of my emotions on the inside and rarely
express how I am feeling to others. Sometimes it eats away at me, but in the
end I get through it. I believe this class has had a positive outlook on the
way I see failure. I don’t see it as strictly a failure anymore, but rather an
opportunity in disguise. It is an opportunity to learn about yourself, and what
you can do to become whatever it is you want to be. I certainly believe I may
take more risks and not have second thoughts about it due to some of the things
I have learned in this class, and regarding the people I have read about in
this class.
Hi Ben, I really identify with your chemistry struggles. I myself am not a natural chemist and I struggled greatly during my entire first chemistry class to study enough and get the grades that I wanted. I really like that you turned your failure into a positive thing and I appreciate that this class taught you the importance of taking risks.
ReplyDeleteHey Ben
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post on failures. I think it’s important that we learn from our failures in order to grow as an individual. Furthermore, I think it is important to take risks and know that it’s okay to fail. All in all, I believe that failure can be a good thing as long as we can grow and learn from our mistakes.
Hey Ben,
ReplyDeleteI, along with many other students can relate to your troubles with your chemistry class. For me, I struggled with the class Business Finance. Similar to you, I had to do and fail at so many practice problems before I was able to succeed. But, that feeling of success made all of the previous failures worth it. Glad you were able to work past and improve from your failures!