Ananya aneja

Failure

Coming into university feels like an adventure, a clean slate, a world of possibility. That is the mindset I had when I started first year along with, “I’m gonna be a perfect student,” and I was in for a shock. I thought I was adept at balancing academics, extracurriculars and my social life. During first year, I found out just how wrong I was. In comparison to my grades in high school, I was doing horribly and was unable to reach the goals I set for myself. This was the first time I ever got a 65 on a midterm despite having studied and this really took a toll on me. I started to question whether I was fit to continue as a pre-med and felt like I was letting my parents down, who had made it possible for me to follow my dreams. 

 After first year, I was feeling discouraged, unable to reach my goal of a 4.0 when many of my friends had. I started to examine my study method with the aim of improving. I wish I could tell you that I learned from my experiences and achieved that 4.0 in second year but I can’t. Even though I was studying for longer, I still faced challenges and bad grades in semester 1. I was heartbroken and very close to giving up until my parents said to me, “It’s easier to give up than to try; sometimes goals change and that’s okay. Learn to adapt.” I am starting my second semester of my second year not only with this aim of being better but also being mindful that I may encounter failure and I just have to adapt to prevent it.