Failure Isn't Always Failure by Jordan

Failure Isn't Always Failure by Jordan - August 2014 Scholarship Essay

The pressures of graduating high school is enough to cause one to want to stop striving to do their best all four years. I grew up in a happy-go-lucky household; my parents are happily married, and continue to work hard to provide for my two younger siblings and I. College is expensive - very, very expensive. Seeing that my parents have no way of affording college tuition, it has been my job and objective since my first day of Freshman year to do well enough in high school, in order to achieve my dream of attending college. The road to college has been a tough journey; I’ve experienced few problems; however, one specific academic failure ended up making me a stronger student and person.

Throughout my high school experience, I have encountered problems which have spanned from not having a date to Homecoming, to nearly failing math, however; I’ve been able to overcome most of these, with the support of my friends and family. My academic progression was soaring from my Freshman year through my Sophomore year, until second semester hit. The AP US History test was in May, just weeks before the end of the school year. I can’t say that I’ve ever studied more diligently nor tirelessly than I did for that test....in a matter of three nights. After hours of sifting through hundreds of index cards, drinking unnecessary amounts of tea, and little sleep, it was time for me to tackle this beast of a test. The day of the test, I scratched my head feeling more lost and confused than I had expected, “I should’ve started studying a long time ago,” I sighed.

July came much sooner than I had anticipated. My fingers trembled as I logged in my account online to view my score. “This is it,” I thought to myself, “the moment of truth...all I need is a 3 to pass...I studied enough...I hope...”. The page read “Loading”- the most aggravating word to ever appear on a computer screen...then I saw my score. A large, bold number two was stamped in the center of the monitor. I felt my heart explode inside my chest, my fingers tingled, and my head suddenly felt 100 pounds heavier. I didn’t pass. I had never failed a test before in my life, not like that. To say the least, I was extremely upset.

I had to decide between whether or not I would allow that failure to hinder me from taking another shot in the AP realm. I realized that one test wasn’t worth forfeiting my goal to become an AP Scholar. With that in mind, I did what I could to better prepare myself for the AP Government test during my Junior year. I believe that sometimes, in life, we’re given opportunities to fail so that we can not only learn from our mistakes, but also, so that we can learn something about ourselves. I approached the AP Government test with a new mindset; instead of being caught up in the pressure to pass, I looked at it as an opportunity to prove to myself that failure is only failure when I don’t strive to reach my utmost potential.

Once more, July rolled around much sooner than I had anticipated. I took a deep breath and logged in online to view my score. As I stared at the large letters which read “Loading”, I reminded myself that regardless of the score, I had done all I could to do well on that test. Finally, the page had finished loading, revealing a large, bold number three. I felt my heart explode inside my chest, except this time the explosion was due to my relief and excitement. Failing the AP US History test made me stronger by allowing me to discover two things about myself as both a student and human being. Academically, I learned the importance of being well-prepared for any given test. In order to do my best, I mustn’t lose the drive in doing whatever it takes to achieve my goal. Personally, this experience has made me stronger by showing me how success can come from failure. This can be applied to anything in life; therefore, as long as there’s failure, something can be learned, which in turn results in success, because failure is only failure if you haven’t learned from your mistake.