Dear reader,
Your life is going to be chock full of failure. And that’s perfectly okay.
Getting knocked to the ground is a part of life we’ve got to accept. It’s inevitable. It doesn’t matter who you are or how great you are, failure will catch you.
Giving up after failure is tempting and easy, but rarely worth the cost.
Staying down makes moving forward feel impossible, but life shouldn’t be lived in self-pity and regret.
Life, and your story, is so much greater than that.
I know it’s easier said than done. I’ve been there myself.
I was a stereotypical high-achieving Asian kid growing up. Being raised in a low-income, immigrant family, academic excellence and the golden road to college was my be-all and end-all.
This made failure hard to accept, and fueled a constant need to maintain a spotless academic record.
Losing hold of that perceived perfection in sophomore year was devastating. I failed a class for the first time in my life and earned Ds in two others. I gave up. The assignments waiting for me at home grew from five to 20 after only a month of looking the other way.
“What’s the point,” I thought. The idea that I’d fallen off crushed my soul and pride into dust so fine I thought I couldn’t ever piece it back together.
Failure can be demoralizing.
High school in particular is a time in students’ lives where they might experience failure the most, and it can lead to a myriad of negative reactions: disheartenment, giving up on yourself, closing doors, passing up opportunities and relationships that were open to you because of a few road bumps.
But at the same time, failure can lead to growth and positive change, and with the achievement of positive change comes a fortification of the belief that maybe you are capable of doing hard things.
A unique sense of pride accompanies your growing self-esteem, with even brief reflection revealing just how far the person in the mirror has come.
Failure promotes character development, building grit and perseverance for pursuing future endeavors that might not come so easy, but are important all the same.
Failure opens your eyes to where you can improve, to what life is like, both the good and the bad. That kind of exposure, though sometimes unpleasant, is equally critical to appreciating all the intricate facets of this beautiful world we live in.
We wouldn’t know to celebrate our achievements and triumphs without having tasted their bitter opposite at some point.
Failure promotes a growth mindset, which I found to my surprise is actually really important.
Growth mindset is a buzzword that schools like to throw around a lot, but apparently for good reason. It’s the belief that we can improve and develop our skills through dedication and hard work, and that our abilities aren’t fixed by talent but are capable of growth.
Having a growth mindset entails a shift of perspective, transforming the idea of failure from something to be feared to a simple sign that there is room for achievable improvement.
What I’ve come to realize is that giving up is really easy when you’re facing challenges alone, or believe that you are.
I encourage you to reach out to friends and teachers who are willing to support you.
All it takes is a little bit of hope and an ounce of courage to take a look around you. If you’re able to do that, you’ll find people who want to see you succeed, and are willing to put in effort for your sake.
And you should be one of those people.
Strive to be your best self, understanding that refined perseverance, not an impossible perfection, is the true goal.
So with whatever challenges and obstacles you face now and in the future, I plead with you, just give it one more shot.
And if that isn’t enough, give it another.
If things work out, dear reader, life will become so much more amazing than you might have ever imagined.
And you won’t know until you try.
Sincerely,
A fellow high school student.
