#26 – Celebrating Failure

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This fall, I took a class called Intermediate Business Programming, with no background knowledge in any programming languages. I thought I would be fine on exam one, since I had done pretty well on the other assignments and quizzes beforehand. I had a decent understanding of the content and when studying, I used the help tool embedded in the program when I mistyped something or got a question incorrect, so that I could learn from my mistakes and get them correct on the exam. Well, things didn’t go as I had hoped. Exam one was a handwritten, non-computer test, with questions that asked you to write out the code. As one could guess, I didn’t do too well. I was pretty frustrated with myself afterward and embarrassed of my grade. However, as a result of that, I started to dedicate a lot of time to the class and focus on doing better on exam two.

I learned that programming doesn’t come natural to everyone, including me. I needed to dedicate more time to this class in order to fully grasp the content and understand what was going on. I managed to do fine in the class, but exam one really made me nervous and reevaluate what I was doing wrong. I also learned that studying programming is much different than studying for any other test material, so I changed my study habits to a way that worked best for me as I progressed through the class.

No one likes to fail, but I think it’s important to experience it. I have failed plenty of times in my life in all different kinds of things. Failure obviously hurts a little at first, but I always try to improve on what I did before. I definitely find it frustrating and embarrassing, especially when I fail in front of people, but it’s important to never give up on what you were first trying to achieve. Overall, I think without failure, we wouldn’t be motivated to live to our full potential. I think this class has changed my view on failure a little, proving that failure is a learning opportunity and that it is okay to fail. I’m more willing to take risks now, and I’m not afraid to put myself out there, knowing that I’ll fail a few times before I get things right.

Comments

  1. Angel Torres-VargasNovember 23, 2019 at 9:11 AM

    Hey Taylor! I had a similar experience with my first exam in Business Finance. Luckily, I had a practice exam to take before my real attempt, so I ended up learning a good bit from the consistent mistakes I made on my problems before the real attempt. That experience really showed me that I would have to be consistent and keep practicing problems, even if I thought I was confident in my ability to solve them. Always keep practicing!

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  2. Christopher CafaroNovember 23, 2019 at 2:39 PM

    Hey Taylor,

    This is the second post I've seen about business finance being the most recent failure in our classmates lives. It really is not surprising either given how tough that class is for almost everyone who takes it. But, like everyone who struggles with it in the beginning, they use their failure as motivation, like you did, to do better on the next test or quiz. If you keep using failures as learning opportunities, you will go far in life.

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  3. Grant LeffNovember 23, 2019 at 3:57 PM

    Hi Taylor,

    I think it’s really interesting to see how people respond to failures within a class setting. Some people just shut down and give up, and others become complacent and repeat their same mistakes in hopes of better results. It’s cool to see that you actually used your failure as a valuable learning experience and were able to improve yourself from it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Herzen VallejoNovember 25, 2019 at 8:27 AM

    Hello Taylor,
    After reading your post I can say that I can relate to you because something similar happened to me, just in different order. Getting a low grade or failing a test can be disappointing but it looks like you have made the best out of that situation and in the process learn from your failures.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Matthew RubinNovember 25, 2019 at 10:17 AM

    Hey Taylor!
    I feel like I so know what you felt like in that class, because I have been in a class where I find the material extremely difficult to learn too. These types of class though, help us really learn how to put a lot of time and effort into one class to be able to grasp the material. It's great learning from these!
    Great post!

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  6. Matthew MrnacajNovember 25, 2019 at 11:23 AM

    Hey Taylor!

    I have a very similar experience. I took COP3502 Programming Fundamentals 1 during my fall semester of my freshman year. The class was very difficult and my study habits were not that great. Moreover, I did not really enjoy the class/subject so I had very little motivation to even try. Of course, this landed me with many failed assignments. Around halfway through the semester I decided to get my act together and work extra hard, but I was already so far behind. On my first exam, I received a failing grade. I ended up dropping the course and realizing that I really don’t see myself being a programmer in the future.

    Best regards,

    Matthew Mrnacaj

    ReplyDelete
  7. Michael AckermanNovember 25, 2019 at 11:46 AM

    Hello Taylor,

    I also took a programming class and went through a similar experience as you. The classes are very difficult and require you to activate a different way of thinking. However, you did a great job taking the disadvantage in stride and making the most of your mistakes. After all, as long as you learn from your mistakes then you ended off in a better place.

    ReplyDelete

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