Assignment 26A- Celebrating Failure

Assignment 26A-Celebrating Failure

This past semester, in addition to taking a heavy course load, I thought I would also be able to study for the MCAT and take it in April. Since I’m a junior and hope to apply to medical school this spring, it was critical that I take the exam now and get a relatively good score. The alternative to not taking it would mean that I would have to take it over the summer and apply late in the cycle, or potentially take a gap year. I’m someone who thinks they can do everything and likes to be involved in a lot of activities. I definitely underestimated the amount of material on the exam and how hard it would be. Along with school and my other activities, I just couldn’t keep up with the rigorous hours required to study for the MCAT. My lack of understanding and trying to do too much at once was exacerbated by the coronavirus situation. Once I began taking practice tests and failing, I realized I was nowhere close to the score I had imagined. I realized that I would need to dedicate full time studying to just the MCAT and would most likely have to take a gap year. While this failure was hard to accept, I knew that I would do much better and have a better quality of life if I just tried to do a few things at once. The fact that I was trying to do both school, extracurricular activities and the MCAT at the same time meant that I wasn’t able to give full focus and dedication to any one of these.

I definitely had to fail to realize that no matter how hard you try there are just some things out of your control. You can’t force things and try to do everything at once. Instead, you should work hard and do as much as possible without sacrificing your health or relationships. Overall, I think failure is one of the hardest things to accept and go through. Not only does it take a hit on your confidence, but it can also cause you to feel ashamed or less than. You could feel like a disappointment or like you let other people/yourself down, but as long as you learn from your mistakes and actively work to adapt and adjust to eventually achieve your goal, you are on the right path. Failing to take the MCAT, and having to take a gap year, is definitely disappointing and I always think if there was anything more I could’ve done to make it work. However, what I realized is having this mindset is not going to help me moving forward. I have to realize that I gave it my all, but was just trying to do too much at once. 

Overall, now I am proud of the hours and grind I put in and know that it will help me in the future.

This class also helped me change my mindset and views on failure because after reading/listening to stories of different entrepreneurs and doing various exercises to develop a business concept, I realize that if you ever want to accomplish something you have to dedicate full time and effort to it. It isn’t possible to start up a business, and market it, if you are doing a hundred other side projects. Dividing your workload and conquering one thing at a time will yield better results. A positive mindset and resilience is also key. For instance, if the Wright brothers gave up after their hundredth crashed flight, who knows when the first plane would’ve been created. All in all, I believe failure is an integral component to success and should be something we all learn from so that we can adapt and become better.