Failure by Betsy

Failure by Betsy - April 2016 Scholarship Essay

I never had a D in my life. Out of all sixteen years of living, it never resulted to this. Failing something was fairly new to me. My parents frowned upon the thinking or even the sight of failing. I grew up with my parents expecting us to get a C or above.
English is decently easy for me. I took honors english for freshmen year and sophomore year. Freshmen honors was pretty easy. But when I came in sophomore English, it destroyed me. I procrastinated so much in not learning vocabulary words and not reading the books they assigned us. First semester I barely passed with a C-. But it came down to the second semester. I had a goal into getting a C in this course. Unfortunately that didn’t workout.
I tried my best, but it wasn’t my best effort. I ended up getting a D in that class. I was unsatisfied and I worked so hard to get that C to a B. I studied everyday, started reading the books, and went to study sessions with my classmates. But in the final I froze and I was completely blank.disappointed in myself. My parents were furious. That was the only bad grade I had.
It taught me how a grade cannot define you. Whether it's a triad grade or a semester grade. Failure is always in your presence. Whether you want it or not. But you just have to deal with it. Life doesn’t hand you things, you have to work for them. I worked hard in summer. I had to retake semester two for sophomore English. I gave up my summer to do this. In the long run it is worth it. A person is not defined by grades or GPA. They are defined by qualities and what they do to get those academic skills. Just because I got a D in a class doesn’t mean I will get another D in another class. This taught me to work hard for my things and I can accomplish anything. You will fail once or twice but you have to get back on your feet.