Failure

Failure is the word that no one wants to hear. Failure is what no one wants to experience. Failure is what no one wishes to see, but failure is what makes us stronger.

Failures lead to Success

Freshmen year I had decided to take honors biology and the teacher, who taught that class, was known to be extremely difficult. My mom always made sure to check if I was drowning in biology work or if the class was too advanced for me.  I know that she had the best intentions, but it felt as though I was constantly being checked on to see if I was going to fail, as if she expected it. So when I brought home three failed quizzes in a row and my mom pulled me to the side, it felt like a huge “I TOLD YOU SO”.  The end of the first semester was not even near and I felt like a failure.  We had a long argument over if I should drop the class or continue.  I said no matter what, I will continue and she walked away form the conversation, abandoning the support she had for me and adopting disappointment to take its place.  Even with failure peering over my shoulder I continued to work hard and study and stay attentive in class.  The next quiz I brought home was over 100%, the next test was an A, and I received third place and over  100% on my science fair project.  My failures at the beginning of the year and my mom making sure that I knew I was failing pushed me to perform better.  I worked so that I could prove them wrong, that the class was too easy for me instead of too difficult.

Image by Artpromotivate (quote by Vincent Van Gogh)

I do not believe that success is possible without the existence of failure.  Failure is the fuel that pushes everyone to succeed.  People have to fail over and over and over again until they figure out the right outcome.  The iPhone did not just appear, Rome was not built in one day, and the United States did not win every battle in WW2, but they still were on the winning side.

Image by US Navy

Personally, I know that I have had several failures in my life and some, such as my failures in school, have pushed me to try harder and do better.

“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places.”

-Ernest Hemingway

If you do not know what failure looks like, just go to a high school or a college and look around at the students.  They fail everyday, whether it be a small failure or a huge one, but most push through the failure.  In the book I am currently reading, All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, one of the main characters named Finch feels as though he failed his family and that is why is dad left them, because he was not good enough.  He is constantly talking about how he let others down and how he will disappoint the other main character, Violet. Failure can tear people down and some may not recover, but it does make them stronger even if they do not believe it.

   TED Talk

For my english class, we have created a unit question that asks: How does fear play a role in our failures and successes?  I believe that fear can have an affect on our failures because everyone fears failure.  We are unable to escape failure and that is not a fun idea to ponder, but failure is just part of life, failure is how we learn to succeed.