Failure is an opportunity for some to improve and build upon themselves so they have a better chance to succeed in the future. My junior year at Western Branch was an exciting one with a lot of surprises and disappointments. That year my track team came close to winning the state championship, but with a lot bad performances by the team, myself included, we were not able to overcome the competition. It was an even greater blow when the girls’ side of the team won, despite the boys’ team having more naturally talented athletes. The work that we put in during the summer, fall, and winter felt like it was for nothing more than to lose some weight and get in shape.
Many individuals experience different amounts of failure in their lifetimes. Many learn and grow from their defeats and others let it keep them from succeeding. I made sure that failure was another obstacle to success. Icons like Randy moss didn’t let failure get the best of him when he didn’t make the freshman high school football team, and look at him now, he is one of the best Football players of all time.
A great example of failure was my first year in high school track. I was in track and field all throughout middle school, but I lost interest as I transitioned into high school. However, I decided that I wanted to try out track and field my junior year of high school. It had been a long time since I raced in
As a student athlete, I have learned to use failure as an opportunity to learn. The moments in which I have "failed" have only helped me grow and reflect on the mistakes that not only I have made, but also those made by others. I was forced to do this multiple times throughout my final season of high school field hockey. Even though the team had players who were devoted and had a true desire to win, the season ended as a losing record in the books. As the primary goalie and captain, this was extremely difficult to accept.
As a dedicated student, dismissal from Kaplan University has been an eye-opener. While I blame no one other than myself, it has been the hardest year of my life. My education has been hindered this last term due to a family illness. I failed to acknowledge the importance of my studies and allowed the sickness of my grandfather, my caregiver, to effect me. My grandfather moved in with me from Arizona to be closer to Sloan Kettering Hospital after being diagnosed with Lymphoma.
This is an event that all people will run into at some point or another. For me, my most defining failures would be in my early childhood. I was never good at sports, but
I remember finding out that NC State had a summer reading book and thinking that it sounded a lot like a high school English class. I dreaded even picking up the book, so i kept making excuses and putting off reading it. August rolled around, and move-in day was quickly approaching, so I decided to take my dog to the beach one evening and read until the sun went down. The book followed the author's prodigious journey to save one mountain near his house and the Appalachian Trail. With every flip of a page I felt like there was an underlying message that was meant for me.
In my freshman year, I made a choice to relinquish some of my social life and replace that time giving back to my community. I joined a non-profit organization called the Volunteer Corp. We spent our time at food banks, park clean-ups, and even hosting local events. This experience left a lasting impression on me in many ways; however, one experience changed my perspective on life and serve as a constant reminder of how the smallest contribution to others can be the most powerful. St. Joseph University, in Philadelphia, held an event called Hand in Hand. It was an event dedicated to raising awareness for people with physical and/or developmental disabilities.
I graduated back in 2013 from a pretty decent school district. During high school I wasn’t an A student or a B student, I just did what I needed in order to pass. Once I got to my junior of high school I started taking things more seriously, I started making A’s and B’s. Once my senior year started the pressure was on. Everyone asking “what college are you thinking about attending?”
If I quit? Then I have not reached my goals and I have little hope of giving myself the best chances this late in my life. I have to succeed; failure cannot be an option. While there will be setbacks, it is my drive to win that pushes me closer to the finish
This may be the biggest failure of my life so far- at the time, I felt there was no way to overcome or fix it. Over the past year, and over the course of writing this essay, I’ve realized that there hasn’t and probably will never be a point in my life where I will experience failure and not be ashamed or terrified of it. Most likely, a failure won’t go away, and the path to inspiring myself to overcome one is difficult. Remaining involved in my extracurricular activities, for one, has aided me in moving past this failure. Deciding to audition for a smaller group at dance taught me a lot about putting myself out there- that it is impossible to be a perfect candidate.
One incident I can recount when I experienced failure was when I joined Cross Country. Since, I can remember I have always excelled at everything I did, from my academics to dance class to music lessons. When I entered into my freshman year of high school, I decided I would to join an athletic team in order to keep myself occupied outside of academics. I figured joining a sport would be another good attribute to add to my resume.
I am extremely excited to be able to study abroad, however my GPA is a possible deterrent to this opportunity. Last semester, I had 16 credits and it was my first semester in the business school. I also began a role as peer mentor, switched jobs mid semester, and moved off campus as well. All of this adjustment contributed to my semester not starting off as strong as it should have. I really struggled with Accounting 100.
There were times that I wanted to quit, but that was not
One of my experiences with failure took place when I was in fourth grade. There were many problems accumulated and I was a child who needed people to see if I did my homework or study for the test, because I couldn’t concentrate and was distracted by anything in the room. My brother also had problems that year, he needed more attention because he didn’t get along with his math teacher and my Mom was always after him with the homework; otherwise he would have failed Math at the end of the year. In fourth grade, the teacher that was assigned to us was one of the strict teachers that were in that school
