You worried about failing a course? You concerned about not reaching your goals? As the new college semester begins many new or returning college students are probably very nervous about some of the difficult courses. As I enter my final year of college there are a few specific courses that I’m stressing about. Today I wanted to discuss the topic of failure and how one can overcome the fear of failure:
Failing a course in college
Just because you fail at reaching a certain goal it doesn’t mean that you’re an overall failure. Failing a course just means that the specific course is a weakness of yours. That’s all. Not every business student enjoys working with numbers. An Arts student may not be successful in a Science course.
The problem is that many colleges require students of a specific major to take a difficult course from a completely different subject. I understand that it’s import to graduate from college with a diverse set of skills but not all college students have the aptitude for certain courses.
Change your opinion on failure
If you view failure as the end of the line or as a sign to quit then you will never grow as a person. Just because you fail the course with one professor it doesn’t mean that you will fail with every professor. You can take the course again next semester with a professor that better suits your learning style.
It took you a few years to gain all of that weight so don’t expect to lose it right away. Students that graduate with an A spent at least 5-10 hours a week on studying. Failing to reach a certain goal can occur due to a variety of reasons. If you are of the opinion that this failure should be the end of the road then you will never push yourself to the limit.
Failure is a major part of success
Okay I will spare you guys about the story on how Michael Jordan didn’t make his elementary school basketball team and ended up becoming a basketball legend in the end. There’s also the classic tale of Bill Gates or of Richard Branson. I’m sure everyone has heard of all of the great triumphant rises to the top from people that were at the bottom.
Failure should be a viewed as a sign to work harder, to work smarter, and to get more serious. When you fail at reaching a specific goal you need to re-assess the situation and determine what needs to be done differently next time.
Many successful people either have the adversity quotient to bounce back from failure or the understanding to change their strategy next time around. Let’s be honest if you drank every weekend and failed that difficult course then drink less often next semester. Don’t lie to yourself. Failure is needed to grow. Failure is also sometimes needed to kick you in the butt to change your ways.
photo: pierodemarchis
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One good step, although it sounds cliche, is to allow yourself not to be perfect. Better to allow yourself to have a few little mistakes early on in the course, and be able to self-correct by the time you get to the exam. Acknowledge a mistake or weakness early on, ask your prof for help, then you have more room to move forward. Don’t be a perfectionist if it keeps you from trying, expanding, testing new knowledge, etc.
Putting a positive spin on a situation is always the best way to look at it. It may be real corny but you can always learn a life lesson out of something negative, something to learn for the future.
Easier said than done.
I recall from my years in school from elementary school and high school and even University.
We were always told to get good grades, and how not passing a grade was bad for us.
But I ask, isn’t the education system overdoing it and putting people into fear and not allowing them to grow as a person and shine?
Instead they keep people at the level of trying to reach perfection and not being able to try something new or better because the fear of failure.
Also, failing a course shouldn’t be viewed as a bad thing. It just means you are not interested or passionated about it, at least in my opinion.
@MoneyEnergy I agree with your thoughts. There have been courses (Managerial Economics for one) where I stroll into the exam with a surprisingly high average and leave with a lower mark. For my math/accounting related courses I try to push myself by figuring out how to solve the most difficult problems. Once I figure out the toughest problems I can focus my energy on the easier material.
@Craig Yes it is corny lol. However, very effective.
@Tomasz You always bring an interesting point to the discussion. What can I say? I agree with your viewpoint. College students are more focused on memorizing the textbook word for word than on actually understanding how to apply the course material to the real world.
In my opinion, the education system manipulates and brainwashes students to become like robots. Always getting the right answer.