Failure is a Powerful Learning Tool by Jazmine

Failure is a Powerful Learning Tool by Jazmine - March 2017 Scholarship Essay

In my experience, failure can teach us a lot about life. If I were going to make a speech to a school wide audience, I’d tell them that although failure can be challenging, it teaches us a lot about life and pushing through when things become difficult.
My freshmen year I joined the Color guard marching band because I thought it was an interesting performing arts sport to be part of. About a month in I hadn’t graduated past the basics, and I felt that I was terrible when it was just the beginning. I talked to my mom about quitting because I felt like a failure. She told me to stick with it and I stayed through the end of the year. I noticed my improvement and wanted to succeed and so I pushed through and continued.
I didn’t put a lot of effort into practicing my basics. Most of the time I was goofing off and not taking it seriously. I thought it was easy when I saw all the cool flag tosses and body movements they would do, but in reality it was much harder than I thought. As months went by, the whole time I was slacking off and enjoying my summer thinking my spot wouldn’t be taken because I was going to every practice. Well, let’s just say I had a rude awaking I didn’t expect.
One day at practice the coach called me out in front of the whole band for not starting with the music on time. Keep in mind, I didn’t know how to perform or spin a flag that well. I was struggling so much in band camp I couldn’t handle the pressure of the coach always yelling at me in front of my teammates. Every practice I was getting left behind and ignored almost like I wasn’t accepted as a true team member.
I wasn’t used to having all this negativity coming at me. It made me think if it’s even worth my time. I was so confused when my coach would teach me work that I couldn’t learn quick enough, I eventually started to hate it. By the time first semester began I was stressing out with after school rehearsals, homework and my grades. I couldn’t get caught up because I was too far behind with everything. I even failed a class for the first time.
But then something inside of me changed. I noticed it wasn’t just me who was struggling, but also others around me. It made me realize that I needed to stop feeling sorry for myself, otherwise I wasn’t going to get ahead in life. I began to let go of all the put downs, the anger, and my insecurities. I didn’t care how my coach and my teammates underestimated me, I was determined that I was going to push through this no matter what. This is the message I would want to get across to a school wide audience. Even when someone underestimates you, you have the power to change it.
When I decided to change my attitude, I became strong and independent. I saw something inside of me that I’ve never thought I was capable of doing. I noticed how high my flag tosses were and how much better I became. After the Color guard season was over I finally mastered the basics, and earned a most improved award from the coach.
I used to think failure in Color guard was inevitable, but in reality it proved to be an opportunity to push myself and show that I can transform from being an average member of the team to one of the best. This message of perseverance is what I’d want to speak about to a school-wide audience.