Chauntecleer of the Pricking Cock

First off, I would like to apologize for not writing for so long nor commenting in anyone's blog; I simply have been very busy and have not had much time!

That said, I am going to write about the topic of failure.

Why?

'Cause I am a failure.


:P


Well, I'm not saying that I'm a failure, but I did experience a minor failure today. I failed a paper.

I am definitely not pleased about this, and I am definitely not used to failing. I graduated Summa Cum Laude, after all.

The news of my failure did feel somewhat strange, but in all honesty, it was not altogether unexpected. The professor's assignment was vague, and I was a bit confused on how to tackle it. But despite the vagueness of the assignment, she had very specific criteria to grade by. My failure is not due to a lack of effort -- I worked hard on the paper -- but rather my ignorance of the criteria. But now that I have a better idea of what the professor wants (or do I?), I should do better the next time.

Failure can be a wonderful thing. I often tell my saxophone students to not be afraid of making mistakes because mistakes can be great learning experiences. My failure was just that -- a mistake. I will learn from it.

I think that there are two possible reactions to failure. When confronted with failure, one may simply give up and begin to think that he or she does not possess the skill to succeed. Perhaps someone who gives up has often experienced failure and has gotten used to it. Such a person might begin to think that because he failed that he is a failure, and no matter how hard he tries to change it, it cannot be changed. Thus this person might begin to accept failure because failure has become part of his own self-image. It's hard not to fail if one thinks that he or she can't succeed!

The other reaction --the reaction that I am aiming for -- is to learn from the experience and quickly brush it off. Brooding on failure accomplishes nothing; the failure is in the past and there is nothing one can do to change it. Instead, perhaps it is best to learn from our mistakes and concentrate on making better efforts in the future. All we have is the future -- the past and present don't exist! (Whoa...think about that for just a moment.....)

I failed the paper, but I am not a failure. The failure of one paper does not in any way mean that I am a poor writer; it simply means that I did not meet the criteria of that one particular assignment. The professor is going to meet with me on Thursday to discuss the paper, and I intend to learn what I could do to improve it so I can really do a good job the next time around. She told me that I write well and that I'm very literate, so it seems that the reason I failed was due to poor organization. Again, I WAS confused about the assignment, and that obviously led to my poor organization of the paper. The only things I can do in the future are to make sure that I have no confusion over future assignments and to learn from my mistakes.

In a way, I am actually pleased that I failed. If nothing else, it provides me with a challenge to overcome! Yay!

Failure? HA! I spit in your face.

You don't faze me, Failure!

Bring it.