There are many cases I’ve made mistakes and learned from them, or made the same mistake a few times until I learned from it much later on. Everyone has failed in at least something, especially when it comes to learning new things. You won't always get something right and you won't always know how to do something quickly or easily.
I've played tennis throughout my life, and I wasn't one of the top tennis players. Of course, I wouldn't always win in tournaments, and it was very hard for me to accept my failure. Tennis is a sport that requires a lot of patience, motivation, and determination much like everything else in life. There was one specific tournament when I just needed one more win from becoming the champion. I ended up losing to my opponent in a very close match, which caused frustration and disappointment. However, this only pushed me to want to work harder and to do better in my next matches. I eventually played the same girl at another tournament and beat her.
I think that failure is essential because it can help you learn how to improve in the future, and therefore, it can lead to success. It took me multiple tournaments, practices, private lessons, and clinics to get to where I wanted to be. I just kept pushing even though it was difficult and stressful; It increased my personal motivation to become a better player. I had to realize that losing was OK and that it was just an obstacle.
This semester, I rushed for a couple of business fraternities. It was my first time rushing for them, and I wasn't sure what to expect. I ended up getting to the last round of the selection process for the two business fraternities that I wanted to join. The interviews were intensive, and there was a lot of competition with about 300 other students who were rushing as well. In the end, I got rejected by both. It was difficult for me to accept it, especially since I was rejected by both of the fraternities. I emailed the fraternities, asking for advice on what aspects of interviewing I need to improve. Although I felt like a failure, I am still planning to rush again next semester—I now know what to expect. Getting rejected only made me more determined to try again because I really want to be a part of a business fraternity.
According to a Harvard Business Review article Why You Need to Fail , "Michael Jordan, arguably the world’s best basketball player, has the same mindset about failure. Most successful people do. In high school, he was cut from the basketball team but that obviously didn’t discourage him: "I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career, I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed,'” said Jordan.
If you are failing in a class, that doesn't necessarily mean that you should drop it. If you are unable to bring your grade up by much, it may lower your GPA, but it can also help you learn how to fight and not give up. This is one of the most important lessons in your life. Your GPA is only a number, and the real testament to what you learned is if you can talk about it without shame or fear. Successful people have all experienced failure and there is never room for success without failure.
If you want to succeed, you have to keep trying to overcome the obstacles. No matter how difficult, painful, or frustrating it is, you can only get to where you want to be if you put in the effort. You only get as much as you put into it—this is how you can move forward. Don't be ashamed or afraid to fail, because it's a natural thing. We should embrace failure because that's what helps us become successful.
