Why You Should Not Fear Failure While in College

In continuing to answer questions sent from the Granada High students, I wanted to spend some time answering one that was not included in Lisa’s post. The question was something along the lines of, “What was your favorite memory from your days in college?” The easy answer would be something along the lines of, “Well, there was this one weekend, where I went to this fraternity / sorority house, and everything that happened that night made me feel like I was in Asher Roth’s ‘I Love College’ video / “Animal House.”

During my college career, I did partake in these kinds of weekend activities. But, those fleeting moments did not define my college experience. On the contrary, my favorite college memories include the times I failed. In particular, failing one of my intermediate economics courses was probably one of the best things to happen to me, and here’s why:

Failing an intermediate economics course, forced me to reflect and question, why I wanted to major in Economics. After failing that intermediate microeconomics course during the fall semester of my sophomore year, I used my winterbreak to question and reflect if majoring in economics was for me. I also realized that if wanted to switch to a kinesiology major, I had to enroll in an elementary chemistry, in order to graduate on time. However, after taking another intermediate economics course and finding that I did not bond well with chemistry (pun intended), I realized that semester that I was still passionate about economics.

In college, you cannot fear failure. There are times when you will take risks without knowing how successful you will be. But you can reassure yourself, that if you fail at whatever endeavor you undertake, you definitely recall what you learned from that moment of failure relative to that semi-descent party you attended two years ago.