Failure is Not an Option by Lauren

Failure is Not an Option by Lauren - August 2014 Scholarship Essay

As I look back and reflect on my academic career, I have had many experiences, both good and bad, that have made me stronger now as I enter my third year of college at Georgia State University. I have always ended each semester with all A’s and B’s throughout high school and college, but for a certain subject during those years, there were several bumps in the road along the journey. This subject tended to surround the Social Studies category, such as Government and American History.

There was one academic experience in particular that changed my thinking towards the subject of social studies and made my grades stronger in that area. During my junior year of high school, I was taking World History. The high school that I attended required the students to maintain a 3.0 GPA throughout the four years and also required the students to take college level courses. World History was already going to be a tough class for me, so having that class at a collegiate level during high school was terrifying.

My teacher had his curriculum set up where there were daily article readings, chapter readings, online assignments, optional note taking and exams on two to three chapters of material. Exams were given every three weeks and all of the other assignments were worth different amount of points. I usually passed my exams with a low C grade and maintained a low B in the class after getting full points on all of the other assignments. Until I had this class, I was unsatisfied with my efforts because I was used to getting all A’s in my courses. It did not hit me until I failed my first test in world history.

I remember while taking the test, I was second guessing the entire time of whether I knew the correct answer or not. I had a gut feeling that I would not get an A, but I thought I could at least pass like on every other test I had taken. Taking home an F was one of the worst feelings ever. I was afraid to tell my mom that after I had studied all night for the test that it did not pay off. Immediately, I began to think there was no way of getting at least a B that semester. Not to my surprise, my mom was very supportive. Of course there was a bit of disappointment, but she did not hold the test over my head as if I was a failure myself. Just because I had failed one exam did not mean I was a failure in life.

When the announcement for our next exam was made, I took it upon myself to begin studying a week before instead of the night before. I had learned from the previous test that one night of studying was not going to get me the A that I wanted. This particular test was on the nation of Islam and while I studied the material throughout the week, I began to feel confident in what I was learning. Also I noticed that I participated in classroom discussions more often and I actually enjoyed going to class more than I had ever done before. When it came to exam day, instead of walking in the classroom really nervous, I walked in confident and ready to take the exam. There was a voice in the back of my head during the test saying “you know this answer, wait, you know this one too”. At this moment, I knew that my studying had paid off because there was no doubt in my mind that every answer that I had put down was correct.

After finishing the exam and turning it in, I immediately became nervous. After failing my last test, I did not want something similar to happen again. A week had passed by and I walked in class knowing that the grades would be passed out that day. One of the traditions that my teacher had was to post the names and exam scores of the top ten students in the class. When I walked in the classroom, I was listed as number one on the top ten list and my exam score was a 98%. I was filled with joy and disbelief. I finally had proof that my studying had paid off.

The failed test did not define who I was in my academic career, but it made me stronger. I learned that taking the time to study the material will always work out better for me in the long run when it comes to academics. I am now doing a lot better in these types of courses and am taking the time to learn what I need to learn in order to maintain good grades in my social studies. I am happy that I went through that experience because I am a better student now than I ever would have been.