Two weeks ago, thanks to Vanderbilt's IMPACT symposium week, I had the privilege of hearing award-winning director, actor, writer, producer, and author, (same...), Spike Lee, speak on topics ranging from the terrorist attacks in Brussels to Donald Trump to Chiraq to the New York Knicks. Lee's talk was thoroughly engaging throughout, and there were many statements he made while speaking that really resonated with me, even though I did not agree with them all. Towards the end of his speech, he said, "Our generation was raised knowing that being as good as your neighbor isn't good enough." This quote comprehensively sums up the competitive nature affecting our world today, specifically those of millennials and the other members of Generation Y.
Starting from a young age, our society emphasizes succeeding in all aspects of life by outperforming others. How much better you perform in comparison to others is a main criterion of success. People base their success mostly off of test scores, grades, school attended, job and money, and they look at other people's lives and experiences to either make them feel better about theirs. Starting at age six, I remember being in first grade, studying for spelling and math tests, because I wanted so desperately to get an A and be one of the top students in the class. While I've never been a super competitive person, this fear of failure is always lurking in my mind. I will never forget the day in third grade when I received the lowest test grade I have ever gotten in my life: a 28 percent on my Little House on the Prairie check-in exam. First of all, I'm kind of embarrassed to admit this (because who flat out fails a test on Little House...) but second, I cried over this score for days and days; all I could think about was that I failed.
While I know this example is kind of silly, I think it represents a part of our society, the cut-throat and competitive nature we witness every day, especially as students. For a third grader to sob over a failed test that doesn't even slightly matter in the grand scheme of things, is ridiculous. We shouldn't be afraid to fail, and there are some positive outcomes to look forward to when you do fail. While yes it stings in the moment, failure opens you up to opportunities you would never expect, and it allows you to learn more about yourself and grow as a person. If you never ever failed, you would never ever succeed or know how. When thinking about what topic I should address in my weekly Odyssey articles, politics and opinion pieces always come to mind first, but it scares me to write about topics others won't agree on, which is not how I should feel. I should be able to write about whatever I want and not worry about others and their opinions of me or my writing; however, I don't want to feel embarrassed, and I don't want to fail or receive negatory feedback.
We shouldn't be afraid to voice our opinions or challenge ourselves. I should be excited about leaving my comfort zone once in a while and opening myself up to experiences I've never known. Failure is inevitable, and everyone fails, but nobody talks about their failure so people forget that it's normal. Everyone sweeps it under the rug, because we're all in some unannounced contest with each other about who has the least problems in their life, largely due to social media.
We need to embrace failure the same way we do success. While I used to cringe when thinking of things I've said that I shouldn't have, or other mistakes I have made, I've started to cherish them because I would never learn if they didn't happen. The same goes for failure. We need to fail to learn more about ourselves and the world, and we should be excited to surround ourselves with new experiences and situations we aren't used to. Remember that in the grand scheme of things, one bad score on a test doesn't matter and failing something doesn't define you as a person, it can just help you become a better one.
