Test #2

Previously, I blogged about a total test failure in my opinion. Following that I mentioned that I ended up actually got a 38/50 which is about a C range depending on the class and curve.

Today, we got the 2nd test back.

Let me first tell you how hard these test can be. We had covered 6 chapters total. Totaling 307 pages and only 5 questions on the test. All short essay format.

I had used the lessons I had learned about needing to be faster. Also I started with the questions that were worth the most points first as they had priority for extra time.

I actually finished the 2nd test, which was a major relief after not being able to finish the first one. I felt confident that I had done better. Yet, the score was only a 41.5/50.While I was a bit disappointed still as I expect very high scores. But as the teacher talked I realized that the majority of the scores had gone down in the class while mine had gone up. The teacher mentioned anyone who did above 40 on this test did really well.

I left the class thinking, ok, well I still could have done better. Then my classmates began seek me out to see how I had done. I told them my score and that I had only done 3.5 points better with a shrug. I felt this was only marginally better, until I started to hear my classmates stories. It seems every person I talked to had done worse and in some cases significantly worse.

I took the lessons I learned from my personal failure (The C test) and raised my own bar. While I only got a low B, the difference was major compared to the majority of my classmates. This made me feel good, as I knew that I could bounce back from failure.

It has often been said, it's important to fail early, and fail often.

Failure truly is a negative concept in our society, but yet it gives us our greatest growth moment as people. That is of course assuming you have the drive to dust yourself off and move forward.

38/50

I passed. 38/50. Perhaps my expectations are higher than the Universities. Perhaps the rest of the class just did not do as well as they should have and the teacher curved it. One will never know I guess.

Either way, I took the test, reviewed it and now have a better understanding of how to take this teachers test in the future.

As a matter of fact in a different course I had another test with the same teacher. In 50 mins I was one of the 3-4 out of 25 who finished in time. I ended up getting high B grade. On a test that probably half the class or worse got C or lower.

This is the type of class that people talk about years later when they find out you were a student from UMD. It's known by many as the hardest class to have. At UMD it's our capstone for Marketing BBA students. It is known as Marketing Management Strategy, but to many it's known as, "that damn class" to be blunt.

To keep it short as I am between classes, I bounced back quick, took some lessons and applied them quickly to the next task and achieved what I intended.

Feels pretty good to me, better this than being satisfied with simple passing. As many of my friends who are in the same boat as I (last semester) seem to be doing.

Fail, get up, brush off

Today I had a test in New Products & Development. To cut to the chase I left the room feeling like I bombed!  I studied literally for at least 10 hours. I read all 8 chapters. No reason to feel like I did not do enough. By now in my final semester my study habits are finely tuned but yet I still felt like I messed this one up. Now the saying, "students are often harder on themselves than the teacher is," often true when it comes to me. I believe this is true for all the students who are critical of their work, or simply the ones who care about their education rather than the piece of paper.

I fall into that group, I came to college because I wanted to learn, not because I was told I had to. Not because I felt the social pressure, but because of the value of furthering my knowledge. Unlike most students I always feel like I could have done better, and many times when I feel like I failed it's often results in a B or better grade. Meanwhile other students take a test, rip up their notes and say, "I'll never need that again." Truly ignorant which is just shocking at this level of education.

Why is this? Am I harder on myself than others? Are my standards of myself higher than the University's standards for its students? If this is the case, OUCH! But that's another topic. Back to the subject, I enjoy failure. Now I'm not someone who seeks failure, rather I enjoy the situation that remains after the initial fail. Within failure, I am faced with another learning opportunity. I don't plan to fail, I don't think it's acceptable, but unlike most I embrace it. This test being a fine example. I left the room feeling I could have done better and because of it, I asked myself a few questions. Don't mind that I talk to myself here, face it we all do this....

Q - "Did you know the questions? "
A - Yes, I just didn't have time to put them down on paper."

Q - If you had more time would you do better?
A - "Yes, I could have done an oral presentation and rocked the house down?"

Q - Do you know for sure you failed?
A - "No, I don't, I probably did just fine."

Q - So why then is it a fail? "
A - Because I could have done better."

Q - Now what?
A - "Brush it off, don't forget it, but learn from it.

What tactics can I use in the future? Did I study in a improper method for this style of test? Did I blank up and waste time? 100's of questions race through my mind on how to be better. While I brush myself off and move on, I do not forget. I do not accept failure, but I use it as a learning experience to improve myself.

After all the only true failure is one who does not learn from failure!