It took a while to process, but I slowly accepted it, and came to a realization. I may not get the role this year, or on this stage, but there are hundreds of stages. This is not the stage where I will play my dream role, but there are thousands of roles, even more opportunities. I won’t let one year get to me, and use this as time to encourage myself to audition more, to continue improving, and overall, to keep moving forward.
— Sofia, Claremont High School
“If you’re playing hard, you’re prone to making mistakes.”
I am a part of the Science Hill volleyball team, and sadly the season ended recently due to a sub-state loss. It was a hard game, knowing it would be the last game of the season if we couldn’t pull out a win. The intensity of the match made the atmosphere feel as though failure was not an option. Anything to a hitting error, blocking error, or serving error: it felt as if it wasn’t allowed. I made a few mistakes that game, and it hurt to know that those mistakes impacted a crucial game. Coach Cook, our volleyball coach, will always say, “If you’re playing hard, you’re prone to making mistakes.” I take this with me when it comes to playing on the court, and life lessons in general. The power of that sentence drives me to keep playing hard, even when I am experiencing a tough game. I feel as though it helped everyone on the court, because no matter what, our foot was on the petal.
Criticism “will help you become better in the long run.”
I have learned many valuable lessons from failure and the most important one is that you need to be open to others’ criticism and opinions because they will help you become better in the long run. Last year I had to write an argumentative essay for English and I remember finishing it and thinking it was the best essay I had ever written. So I showed it to my teacher and I was sure it was going to be the best thing they had ever read. I was very wrong. My teacher spent about 30 minutes ripping my essay apart and I had to rewrite the entire thing. I was very frustrated with my teacher and wished I hadn’t shown them at the time. Looking back now, if I hadn’t shown my teacher my essay my grade would have suffered and it wouldn’t have pushed me to strengthen my argument and improve my writing skills. This experience has made me more open to people’s criticism and allowed them to help me improve.
— Abbie G., Cambridge-Isanti High School, MN
Failure is “not as big of a deal I believed it to be.”
I have majorly failed a test before, when I set out to get a 90-100, meanwhile I got less than a 60. I was extremely embarrassed and upset about this fail. Looking back, I realize that it was not as big of a deal I believed it to be, and I learned to be kinder about not doing as well as I wanted. I also learned how to study better from this failure and did much better on the next test. The strategy listed that helps the most is putting my failure into context, and realizing in the grand scheme failing a test is not irrevocable.
“Failure only has the power that you give it.”
From a sports perspective, sometimes you try your absolute best, give it your all, and you still fail simply because someone else is better. The same can be true for everyday life. However, getting second, third, or even last place is only failing if you view it in that way. If you know for certain that you did the best you possibly could, then you’re had a personal win. Failure only has the power that you give it.
