Growing up, it seemed like I was a little bit of an overachiever. I always wanted to do not only my best, but to be best. I distinctly remember crying one time in third grade because I had only gotten 99/100 on my multiplication test. Looking back now, that seems like the most ridiculous thing ever. I didn't even fail, I only missed one question. However, to little third grade me, it might as well have been the end of the world.
As time goes on, I'm more okay with not doing as well as I wanted to. It's not because I don't care and I'm just trying to pass, but because more times than not these small "failures" are just lessons learned. A prime example would be my first biology practical at Iowa State. If we're being completely honest, I got 15/40. This was something that I definitely was not used to.
During high school, I didn't really have to study, and I could still get decent grades. Although this was super nice during high school, it was actually a disadvantage once I got to college. I never really learned how to study. Suddenly I was at a loss on how people learned the information if it didn't sink in the first time. It may have been a downhill battle before, but now it was hitting me like a brick wall.
Don't get me wrong, I was super upset on how bad I did on my practical. I did however, have a better idea on how important it truly is to study. People had told me forever that the way I made it through high school "wasn't going to work in college." To be honest, I didn't really believe them until after the biology practical. Although I definitely got an F on the assignment, I wouldn't count it as a complete failure. I learned quite a few lessons from that practical.
I learned that when your friends who are older tell you something about academics, that there's a good chance that they're right.
I learned that knowing how to study and what to study is important because without know those two things, studying becomes nearly impossible.
I learned that one bad score isn't going to be the end of my college career. (Although I knew this before, it really hadn't set in. I was still just as upset as third grade me getting a 99/100 on my multiplication test.)
Last but not least, I learned that something is only a true failure if you don't take the time to learn from it and make yourself better.
Although accepting that you aren't going to do as well as you hope all of the time hasn't been easy, it's kept me afloat. I'm in no way thrilled that I got an F, but getting an F has been one of the most beneficial things that's happened to me so far during my adventure at Iowa State.
