Failures Are What Make Us Who We Are by Jasmine

Failures Are What Make Us Who We Are by Jasmine - February 2017 Scholarship Essay

Throughout high school, I was known for how good I was in sports. I played multiple sports, including volleyball, basketball, softball and track. Sports were my life and I took them very seriously. However, I am only going to talk about an experience in track my senior year. I was a high jumper for my high school track team. I was an above average athlete, and I may have become just a little bit too confident in my abilities. I won 1st place in so many meets that it was expected of me to win. One day I did not.
Approximately midway through the season, I was competing against an opponent that I defeated many times before. I was not doing so well that day and I knew the outcome would not be good. As time went on during the competition she began to beat me, and I started to get a little upset and disappointed in myself. She ended up defeating me for the first time in years. At that time I realized that maybe I was not undefeatable as I once thought. I thought that being defeated made me a failure and I would never be able to overcome this loss. I became aware of how arrogant I had become as a result of my many victories. I concluded that was the reason for my loss. I made up in my mind that I was going to change that from that day forward.
Then I began to believe that failure may not be such a bad thing after all. Failure made me think about the meaning of every rep, every step of my approach, every inch that got me closer to the bar, and the importance of my arch among many other aspects. All the things I overlooked and took advantage of became so essential to me. I missed out on what made high jump the sport that I loved because I became so conceited. I also learned that no matter how good I was I could always be shoved off of my pedestal. From that moment on I was only concerned with making myself better both physically and mentally. I began to train more effectively. Training became an opportunity to better my myself, not just something that my coaches told me I had to do every day. When I lost the high jump competition, I altered my mindset and humbled myself. I was nicer to my opponents, made sure that I did not express my victories in a rude manner, and started every meet and practice with the mindset that every person competing against me was on the same level as me, if not better. When my mindset changed my performance changed, I became stronger, more observant of mistakes and learned from them quicker and I jumped higher than I ever had before by a significant amount. Not only did I get better personally, but I placed higher in the Regional Track Meet and qualified for state for the first time in my high school career. If I had not lost the meet, I would not have worked harder and qualified for the state meet. The most important lesson that I learned was; failure to see flaws in one’s actions can hinder them from growth
My failure in track not only allowed me to get better at competing, it also made me change my mindset for my entire life. It made me study harder and work harder for what I want in life. Track taught me that nothing in life is promised. Prior success does not determine your future. Failure is still possible. This particular mindset has improved the way that I approach my studies and has increased my grades in college. Nothing in life will be handed to me and I have the memory of losing in the high jump to remind me when I feel like I do not need to work hard for my degree or my job.