Going home for spring break means going back to my old room, which truly shows off my personality for what it is. Within my room, I have a wall I call "The Wall of Success." On this wall is anything I would consider to be something successful that I did or to remind me of my successes.
On this wall, there are awards and pins that I earned for various things, like my Ambassador Award, which is a national honor, from Business Professionals of America. Or my three medals from making the over 500 club in Girl Scouts, which means I sold 500 or more boxes of cookies. But also on this wall are things that if you heard the story behind them, you wouldn't think they're successes.
I have a banner on my wall for a "company" I started in my intro to business class during my sophomore year of high school. Our company was a complete failure, considering we were selling yogurt popsicles in December, and we ended the semester in the red. But it reminded me of the fact that because of my failure, I wrote a six-page final paper on the company that got me a 100 on the final. I also have a certificate from Go Ape, because I went twice in one week. The first time I went, I had a panic attack halfway through the high ropes course because I got stuck hanging and I was struggling to get myself back, so I stopped after I finished the section. The second time I went, I was able to get over my fears and finish the entire high ropes course. Though the first time I did it was a failure, I was successful the second time.
So why do I combine my actual successes with my failures? Because within my failures are also successes. Every failure comes with a lesson that can help you be successful next time. And even some failures come with their own successes if you flip the situation upside down. If you brush off your failures and forget about them, you'll just continue to fail over and over again. But if you praise your failures and remember the lessons you learn from them, you can use them in the future to build you up and make you successful.
My wall always makes me happy with it. In the 18 years I've lived so far, I've been quite successful. I've also been quite a failure, too. But I know I'll continue to do both in the future, and I'll keep smiling no matter what. In the end, if you can learn from your failure, it's still a success.