As a junior in college, I have had my fair share of returned grades that quite frankly, ruined my morale for the rest of the week. But, I have also had plenty of returned grades that made me do a happy dance and say: "Wow, all of those hours of lost sleep were worth this feeling of satisfaction!" The important point here though is that at the end of the day, and regardless of the grade, I never lost confidence in my ability to be the person I am today, as well as in the future. In my opinion, project and exam grades are more than just a number because they are also a reflection of the person that you want to be.
Throughout grade school, I was the kind of student that pouted over any grade that was less than an A. Maybe I was worried about what my parents would think or if I would look stupid in front of my other star student friends. One special thing that I've learned throughout college is that it can teach you that not always being right is OK. Sometimes bad grades are a wake-up call, like a sign at the crossroads that says: "Hey! You have a chance to do better next time!" I'd never failed an exam until my sophomore year of college in Organic Chemistry I.
Initially, I felt horrible about myself and I cried for about 10 minutes while on the phone with my Mom. I had made the Dean's List for two semesters already! How could this be happening to me? When I finished my phone call, I started to relax when I realized that even though the feeling of being wrong royally sucked, I was still human and I make mistakes sometimes. And at that point, I picked up the broken pieces of my scholarly ego and decided to study more for the next exam earlier than I usually do. I also made a structured game plan for taking more detailed notes and asking questions in class. I managed to squeak through to get a B+ on the final exam, and I was happy with that! I had made a choice to turn my shame at failing into a motivational change in my academic life.
Overall, I think the best part about my situation was that I never stopped believing that I was a good student. After that day I keep telling myself: "I am a good student and one failed exam is not going to define my future." And on that day in my sophomore year when I thought my undergraduate career was falling apart, I learned more than just about how failing a test hurts, but how it feels to trust in yourself to do better next time; and I did!
