Failure Is The Key To Success by jalen

Failure Is The Key To Success by jalen - February 2017 Scholarship Essay

Failure Is The Key To Success

I was going into the 8th grade and I transferred from a new school. I didn’t know anyone except the coaches. I heard that there was a very talented free safety that led the team in tackles last year. I play free safety so, of course, I was thinking I would never have a chance against him. Not believing in myself was my failure.

I have come to believe through determination and the knowledge gained from previous failures, you can reach success. No matter how many times you fail at something, you always need that strength of mind that you can do better next time. Each and every pathway we go down in life is a learning experience. After the hard times, you’ll feel stronger which helps create the person you are trying to be.

Life is way too short to wake up with regrets and sadness. People from all around the globe experience failure at some point in their lives, but the worst thing they can possibly do is to let those experiences stop them from achieving success. They need to acknowledge the fact that learning from their mistakes helps them to improve. Failure is not a bad thing at all; it is the greatest path to success. A lot of great leaders and powerful people made their way to success because they failed so many times but continued to try. They learned from their mistakes, and they kept moving onward which led to their success.

I am convinced that every time we fail at something, we take one step closer to achieving the success we desire. If you give up, you will never get back on your feet and you will never reach your goals. You need to get back out there and keep going. If you fall down 100 times you need to get up 101 times. Remember, life should go on no matter what. It doesn’t matter how many times you fail. What matters is how you taking that failure, looked it in the face, and told that failure “you will not beat me.”

We can do anything we put our minds to. No one told me that becoming the starting safety was going to be easy, but that I could do it. We went into two a day workouts getting ready to start the season. The starting free safety was just flying through all the drills and in my head I’m beating myself up saying I had no shot at playing that season.

Finally, I realized I had a size advantage over him, I was faster than him, and, in my opinion, an all-around better athlete than him. I used that knowledge and belief to motivate myself. I decided I could do this. All I had to do was engage my competitiveness.

As two a day workouts rolled by I started making an impression on the coaches, but I didn’t get big headed because I knew I still had to work extra hard to have a chance to play that season. In the first game of the season the coaches were calling out the starting lineup and, as I expected, I was not starting. I knew I was not going let that break me down for the rest of the season; I decided I was going to keep pushing and keep working. I knew at some point my time was going to come.

As the season progressed my chances of playing increased. The free safety was making very costly mistakes and not being the defensive leader the coaches needed on the field. I busted my butt on the practice field every day. I was the first person to show up and the last one to leave.

When we were preparing to start the third game of the season my name came out of that coach’s mouth as he called out the starting lineup. I couldn’t have been more excited. I was ready to take on the challenge. I ended up leading the district on defense with 75 tackles, three interceptions, five forced fumbles, and one touchdown.

I saw myself as failing when I was not selected as the starting safety at the beginning of the season, but by continuing to believe in myself and working hard I did eventually succeed. That experience taught me to never give up. I now know I can do anything I put my mind to. All I need to be successful is a lot of hard work and little bit of FAITH.