Drum Major Failure

From the time a child is born to the day that they die, they will be told countless times to dream big. People tell them to reach for the stars and pursue the things that make them happy. Something they do not tell them is how powerful failure can be; how it can alter a person’s perspective on life and the direction they think they need to go with their future. Ever since I was a little girl my life’s goal in the FFA was to become a State FFA Officer. The concept of being able to positively impact someone’s life and promote an industry that I believe in whole-heartedly got my blood pumping. I was not prepared for failure, I only thought about success.

I failed to reach the top of the rock climbing wall on the playground, and as a result, I have strived even harder to reach the peak of success in everything I do. Instead of becoming discouraged and disappointed in myself, I found a way to improve myself for my next challenge. Learning from my mistakes has molded me into an improved person while giving me the motivation to keep pushing forward. Failure has taught me the importance of learning from your errors and trying again, no matter how difficult it may be. Without lessons like these, I would not be the motivated, independent person that I am today. I will continue to fail and try again until I achieve my goal of reaching the

The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Failure can be a very difficult thing to cope with. It can be something that makes you or breaks you. I have learned that failure is what defines a person; it shows your motivation to bounce back when things get rough. I have learned from my failure instead of dwelling on it and making myself weaker.

I may have technically been the weakest and least experienced drummer as a 16 year old girl, but I didn’t care. In the end, I did not get a position at that particular audition, but I did not stop or even remotely count this as a failure. To this day, I am training harder than ever and counting down the days to return and claim that snare drum position I have been working so hard for. Can you imagine if every time we failed, we gave up and never attempted that failed task again? Our society wouldn’t have any doctors, lawyers, or even teachers. Elvis Presley displays this concept perfectly. Everyone knows of his successes but few know that as a young musician a producer told him to stick to his day job due to “lack of talent”. After perservering toward his goal, he arguably became the best musician of his era.

Third, I learned how important it is to make your own decision. Other people will never know you better than yourself. So if you want to make the right decision, you just have to go with your heart and follow it. I made a lots of wrong decision, but those mistake didn't weaken me, instead it taught me a lesson to not do that again. Life is not about making the right decision every time, but to step up on your mistake and overcome it.

One failure in my life occurred when I tried out for my high school’s softball team. I had been playing softball for most of my life, and there would only be fifteen players trying out, enough to create a team without cutting anyone, so I got onto the team but found that I wouldn’t have a place on the field because another player occupied my position. So I spent the season figuratively on the bench rather than playing the game I loved.

Feeling like a failure is common among young adults, especially those in college. I've been coping with several failures this past year, most of which stemmed from ignoring my intuition and my rebel against western medicine. However, I’ve come to realize that acknowledging defeat and mindfully moving forward is the first step towards creating a life of success.

The lesson I learned was that if you can dream then you can do it. This has changed me in to a more compelled person to do more things that I think are impossible

Failure can actually progress America and the American dream. Zinsser’s article agrees with the idea that despite the negative connotations associated with failure, success depends on the lessons failure provides. Failure directs a person in the right direction. Young adults deal with failure, more than the older adults, as they discover who they are and who they want to become. Young adults dabble in different areas of human experience, so they can better understand themselves and the lifestyle they want to pursue.

Morihei Ueshiba once said, “Failure is the key to success; each mistake teaches us something.” Throughout my life, I have experienced countless failures; nonetheless, the lessons that I learned from my failures prepared me for the numerous successes that I have had. My most significant failure was not making the All-City Honors band. My failure was due to me not taking a challenge and trying to find an easy way out of the situation. In the end, I learned to humble myself and to not be afraid to take on a challenge. My lesson helped shape my future decisions and successes.

I didn’t know that expect when I went into high school. I was a scared incoming freshman with big goals. At that point of my life I thought I had it all figured out but I’d love to go back to my first day of freshman year and give myself a couple tips about failure and dedication.

What does one learn from failure? Will the disappointments from failure trouble the individual, or will the disappointments encourage them to try harder? I believe it is imperative to attempt new things and take risks. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” Continually facing a fear and achieving goals that one thought they could never accomplish, will improve their self confidence, motivate them to never give up, and will help them realize their own potential.

The word “failure”, by definition, is the condition of not achieving the desired end or ends. However, this standard definition does not come close to summing up the countless other meanings of failure. Every person, regardless of status, color, or sex, has had to deal with this issue at least once in their lifetime. Even so, each person’s definition of it can vary depending on their personal experiences. The interpretations of failure may differ, but failure itself involves not putting forth effort, being a disappointment, or not succeeding in a task.

The crowd around me had mixed emotions. Some people were excited they made the All-State Choir, however, some were devastated that they didn’t make it. I was devastated. I was so confident I was going to make it that I didn’t consider what would happen if I didn’t make it. After the results were called, I silently cried on my mom’s shoulder thinking about the work I put into the audition process. Two years later, I finally recognized the lessons that I learned from failure. Failure taught me to not to be conceited, to consider every possibility, and whenever I am knocked down I need to stand up stronger than I was before.