When I was in freshman year at college, I always thought that I had to be perfect, or people would think that I’m not smart. It wasn’t until after this experience in my sophomore year that I realized that it’s not possible to be perfect. I also learned that what people hated the most was not nearly as bad as everyone had thought. My experience with failure is probably the best that I have ever had in college.
Failure allows us to assess our strengths and weaknesses, and build upon them. I say this because I did not succeed, and it turned me around in a way that could not have been achieved through only success. It started with me getting a D on my history test. Getting a D isn't the worst thing in the world, but it was a disaster for me at the time. I thought about how I could get a D on a history test and I couldn’t find the answer. I'm not a student who puts out work that is equivalent to a D. I usually get B’s and the occasional A’s, but not D’s. I went into a test without the knowledge that was required to pass and I was beaten up. I could accept that given what I felt I was really a D student, or I could study hard for the next exam and try to raise my grade to where it needed to be. It was then I realized something very important; I had forgotten why I didn’t study, but I never forgot the score. The product itself was therefore far more important than the process to me. Imagine if I got a C or even a B instead. It would have taken pure luck, but there was the possibility that it could happen. If that had happened, I would have learned nothing. Or at least I would learn that I did not have to study, which is the opposite of what any student would need to learn. I discovered the consequences of not studying through my failure. I knew the problem as well as the solution, but at the time it was not that simple. I had to study for countless hours and practice so that the next time I had a test there was no way I could fail. By getting better grades on tests and papers, I slowly raised my grade. At the end of the year, my grade was back up to where it should have been.
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I learned that those who don’t learn from their failures will never truly succeed. These experiences have granted me greater insight into the world that we live in and how to succeed in it. Due to this experience, I now know how to use failure to my advantage.
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What Failure in College Taught Me: Personal Narrative Essay.
(2023, October 26). Edubirdie. Retrieved December 21, 2024, from https://edubirdie.com/examples/what-failure-in-college-taught-me-personal-narrative-essay/
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2023 Oct 26 [cited 2024 Dec 21].
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