My Biggest Failure Led to My Greatest Realization by Sophia

My Biggest Failure Led to My Greatest Realization by Sophia - July 2023 Scholarship Essay

The biggest failure during my education would have to be believing that getting good grades is the primary goal in school. Despite getting the best markings I could, taking AP and honors classes, and even taking dual enrollment and earning over a 4.0 in high school with honor roll and principal honor roll occasionally, sometimes it felt like I wasn't learning as much as I should’ve from the classes I took. I used to think that one bad grade could ruin my whole life when I should've been looking at the bad grade as a reason to keep improving myself and learning from it. I would cry over getting something as low as a C when I was younger because school made me feel like anything that wasn't an A meant I was slacking or not applying myself. I specifically remember being in elementary school receiving high grades, and being an outstanding student. However, one day we had parent-teacher conferences and a teacher was speaking well on my character yet felt the need to bring up a C I received on one assignment, leading to me bawling my eyes out cause that one grade on that one assignment made me feel horrible. It felt as if that one marking would tarnish my overall grade.
Looking back at it, I should've never felt like one poor score would ruin me; at such a young age at that because it's just one grade. But, the one poor grade is a memory that I keep with me to remember that school is about more than just grades, it is about making the most out of it by using your education to further your life goals. This failure during my education helped shape who I am as a person because it helped me realize that one mistake should not make up my entire experience.
I realized that receiving high rankings can only get me so far. It is not only about getting good grades but using those grades to find better opportunities for future experiences. Internships, job opportunities, and corporations aren’t going to seek me out just because I received high scores on assignments in school. Of course, grades matter, it is what helps you get into specific colleges and those colleges can help with surprising possibilities. However, these opportunities want to know the type of person I am outside of grades, such as extracurriculars, previous job positions, and volunteer services. While I failed to realize that grades weren't the only factor during my education, the failure has helped me become who I am and work towards being. I am the type of person who still works toward outstanding grades, but I also branch out to look into internships, job opportunities, and more because my future is in my hands, and it's not up to one thing to make or break my goals.