56%. That’s the grade that stared up at me, and I stared back at it in astonishment. In the background, my teacher was talking about how this first quiz grade wouldn't set us back too much, how it was to be expected of incoming freshmen, and the quiz was purposely written with the goal of being difficult. But we would soon get used to it. I flashed back to my middle school graduation where our speaker spoke about how life would be filled with failure. Little did I know it was imminent.

At that moment, I was exaggerating. I was thinking about how the 56% pushed me back, how I would never be able to pursue a higher education, and that I’d just have to quit right then and there. I had failed my first quiz in high school. I’m now a junior and I’ve failed at many things since then, academics and personal. But it’s in high school that I learned failure is not only guaranteed but a good teacher and motivator. No matter how grave or unsavable the situation may seem, the corny saying holds true; “where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

In high school, failure is a constant rival, and in that battle, I began to understand that I could not only win but come out on top. But even if I succumb and lose and have to look into failure’s eyes, I know I will be able to and that it will be alright. When failure is overcome, it becomes a distant relative that you barely know. Your first thought of Thomas Edison is not that he had around 3,000 failed prototypes of the light bulb. No, your first thought is that Thomas Edison created the lightbulb; how long it took him to get there is irrelevant.

My school, my community, a place where I spend over nine hours a day, five days a week (sometimes more) is a breeding ground for failure. Not because we’re not equipped with the right tools to take on life, but the opposite. We’re a body of ambitious students with various dreams and goals, and sometimes in the process we fail. But through our inner strength we persevere. And that inner strength has been reinforced by failure, support, and camaraderie.

At the time, that 56% on the quiz seemed to be a killing blow. But with the help of my family, friends, teachers, and advisors I learned that failure doesn’t define the individual; it's what comes after that does.

Sources:

Palermo, Elizabeth. “Who Invented the Light Bulb?” LiveScience, Purch, 17 August 17, 2017. www.livescience.com/43424-who-invented-the-light-bulb.html.