The Benefits of Failure

Every single one of the worlds great minds, whether they be scientists, fashion
designers, authors or movie stars, have failed more than once in their lifetime. William
Gouldings Lord of the Flies was rejected a numerous amount of times, Coco Chanel suffered
multiple hardships throughout her entire life, and the breakthrough discoveries of Galileo
Galilei were discredited immediately by the rest of society at the time. The thing they all have
in common is that neither one of them gave up but rather remained determined to reach
success. No one desires failure, and people often see it as a burden. On the other hand, what
most people do not realize is that failure is actually beneficial to ones character. The
experience of failure allows an individual to carry out their own path that leads only to the
growth and betterment of oneself. Failure causes one to ask questions and become their own
self-mentor. Learning from past mistakes, along with an optimistic mindset and perseverance
is powerful enough to place anyone and everyone directly on the road to success. However,
the only way this is possible is if one has the motivation and willpower to reflect upon
themselves as well as constantly provide themselves self-feedback. The more times a person
fails, the greater the opportunities they have to better themselves and achieve a goal.
One of the times I have experienced failure was in my first year of high school. While
still adjusting to a new school atmosphere and trying to maintain other grades, I carelessly let
my freshman honors introduction to literature class grade slip. Thinking it would not affect me
much, I began turning in assignments less frequently and eventually none at all. As my first
semester of high school elapsed, I watched my literature grade go down to a C and finally a
dreaded D. As soon as finals week came around, I frantically completed as many missing
assignments as possible and did as best as I could on the courses final exam. To my dismay,
my grade was still a D, and I did not pass the course. As a consequence, I had to register for
summer school. In order to receive credit for college A-G requirements, I had to retake

semester one of the course. Summer school was an incredibly grueling experience. For the
first two and a half weeks of my summer vacation, I woke up at 7 am and walked to and from
school every day. I loathed attending summer school, but I got through it and passed the
course with an A, earning the five credits I had previously failed to attain. As summer school
came to an end, I reflected on my poor performance during my freshman school year and
realized something very significant. It wasnt worth it. This realization caused me to change,
slowly but surely. Throughout the rest of my high school experience thus far, my grades have
gradually but greatly improved. I have gone from a 2.5 GPA up to over a 4.0.
As a result of my experience, I am not afraid to fail. I have already learned once from failure,
and from this failure I have achieved success. Because of this, I now know that I will surely be
able to learn and rebound from any future experiences of failure that are certain to come.
Everyone experiences failure more than once. However not everyone knows how to or is
willing to fix and learn from their mistakes. I know that I have the motivation to better myself,
and I know for a fact that this motivation will reside within my character my entire life. I do not
fear failure but rather embrace it. I like to look failure dead in the eyes and say, Bring it on.
Being able to face and conquer failure has significantly built up my confidence. There is no
better feeling than to be entirely confident and self aware in a world as big as todays. Failure
has taught me to not be afraid to take risks. My level of determination has also very much
increased due to learning from my faults and errors. When I put both my confidence and
determination together, I know that I am almost guaranteed to accomplish anything I set my
mind to.
My failure has definitely allowed me to grow as a student. Since my summer school
experience I have taken school much more seriously and always put effort into my
assignments. Learning from my failure has changed my study habits as well as provided me
the motivation to excel in school and maintain good grades. Fulfilling my duty as a student

has really shaped who I am today. School is definitely one of the most important things in my
life. It is my dream to attend an outstanding four-year university and achieve an even higher
education by attending graduate school. Because of my failure, I now know that I am able to
handle whatever rigor my life after high school may throw at me as I am aware of the negative
consequences that complement a lack of effort.
So far, being able to learn from failure has led me down a road to success. I am quick
to learn from my mistakes and alter them in order to lessen my chances of encountering
adversity. The D grade I wound up with my first semester of high school was the first and last I
will ever allow myself to earn. Since then, I have pushed myself to achieve better grades, and
thus far I have not let myself down. This has turned out to be incredibly rewarding. As a result
of maintaining great study habits, I have been awarded the title of an AP Scholar and have
even had the opportunity to visit France and Spain. Understanding how to fix my errors has
led me to grow in character and become a confident and more mature young lady.
Throughout my experience, I have come to realize that it is perfectly acceptable to fail, just as
long as it is acted upon.