Overcoming a Failure by Morgan

Overcoming a Failure by Morgan - December 2016 Scholarship Essay

I am a hard working person full of drive; I hate to give up and rarely ever do. I will work at a goal until I meet it or physically can’t go any further. That is why my second semester of my freshman year in college I felt like I failed when I had to drop Chemistry 2. Now I know what you are probably thinking, “she is writing this to win a scholarship and it is supposed to be about her biggest achievement, yet she is writing about failure?” This is not about failure; it is about overcoming a failure and learning that it was not the end of the world, that is an achievement.
I worked my butt off for this class I put in at the minimum four hours of studying including doing, or rather attempting, the homework in a single day. I spent at least one of those hours in my chemistry one professor’s office trying to understand the material. My chemistry two professor told me I should change my major from Pre-Med to something a little easier, and that he could not help me because I was too confused and he did not have the time. I could not believe the person who is supposed to instill their knowledge upon us said something like that to me. I was used to being the straight A student, I studied and then I would understand, but it just wasn’t happening and I did not know what to do. I talked to a professor who I was close with, and she asked me why I didn’t just drop and pick it up again next semester. I told her I could not quit. I thought she was crazy for suggesting I drop the course! Me, in high school a straight A student quit a class? I ended up breaking down in my advisors office when she asked me about my F and she told me it isn’t quitting if you intend to come back, it is just a pause, and that is exactly what I ended up doing..
I am currently taking this course again, and I have the potential for an A, if I ace my final. I went from an F to a possible A in chemistry. When I dropped the class I felt like a failure, but it was also a huge weight off of my shoulders. There were no more tears of frustration and the stress was no longer eating away at me. This semester I decided to do something different, I got ahead of what we were doing; before class I would read the chapter on what we were doing and take notes, and then I would get to class and feel like I had the basics of what was going on. I worked so hard to do well, and I had a great professor she really cared about her students and whether or not we understood the material. I know this does not seem like a huge success, and you are probably thinking I’m crazy for choosing this example, but dropping this class taught me a lot. . I learned that there is no shame in admitting defeat, and that it is okay to put something on pause and pick it up later. Success doesn’t always come easy, or even at the first attempt, but you have to keep trying and look at things from a different perspective. Things will work out in the end if you keep up the effort!