Celebrating Failure 26A

A time I failed:

Life is filled with so many ups and downs that it is hard to keep track of each one. Even narrowing it down to specifically this semester does not make that huge a difference. I am taking statistics this semester for the first time ever. I have always been more of a calculus and numbers type person. However, statistics is vastly different. It is much more conceptual and doesn't involve numbers the way that most types of math do. I ended up bombing the first exam because I honestly did not know how to study for it. Like I said I had never taken stats before, so it was learning another language again.

In every moment of failure there is a lesson. It might sound really cliche and cheesy but it is in fact true. From this failure experience, I learned new ways to study for this material. I also asked around some of my older friends here at UF for advice. They said to treat stats not so much as a math class, but instead like a vocabulary test. If you can remember all of the vocabulary in stats, it makes the material seem a whole lot easier. Therefore, that is what I did and it allowed my grade to bounce back to where I wanted it.

Failure is an interesting concept. People are aware that failure is a common thing. However, they hardly ever expect that they will be the ones to fail. As an entrepreneur especially, failure is a common foe. I am willing to safely bet that there are no successful entrepreneurs who got it on their first try. If someone was lucky enough to do that, props to them. However, it isn't a bad thing if you fail. Like I said, although people have been saying this for years, there are lessons in failure. It is important to prepare yourself in case you fail because it will allow you to learn so much more from it than if it hits you completely by surprise.