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!
No comments:
Post a Comment