Liam cronin

Failure

I think I have failed a lot, both at Western and beforehand. I consider myself a pretty ambitious person, and I try to be involved with communities and take up leadership positions on campus. A lot of the time, that does not work out. The vast majority of positions that I have applied for I have been rejected from. Whether that be internships or leadership positions I find that I often don't live up to my own expectations of myself.

I think what is important to take away from failure is that it isn't defining. It is super easy to put more weight on the things we have failed at more so then the things that we have succeeded at. And that isn't fair to ourselves. Even if you feel like you haven't succeeded that much trying and failing means that you tried. Failure doesn't define you and should not stop you from trying in the future. Even though it is hard to take, failure means you are putting yourself out there and growing. At a school like Western it is easy to lose perspective and feel down on yourself when you don't live up to your expectations. The reality is that if you are trying and failing, keep trying because doing your best is enough.