The Lessons I Learned From Failure

“Why would someone join chorus? Only nerds and weird people are in choir.” Hearing comments like these when I was in middle school almost discouraged me from participating in the arts. I did not want to do anything that would make it more difficult to achieve popularity, for I was obsessed with trying to fit in with my peers. My chorus teacher knew how irrational it was for me to think that and convinced me to try out for chorus. I am forever grateful that she did, for joining chorus allowed me to express myself, connect with others, and create memorable experiences.

For one of the few times in my life, I let myself down. At my interview for Phillips Exeter, the admissions director asked me how I would face disappointment, given that it would surely occur over the next four years. I thought I knew, but as it turns out, I overestimated my abilities to face it head on. During those first two years, disappointment hurt me. By concentrating on that period of time, you would perceive me incorrectly. But please know this: I am stronger than ever, more aware of my ability to overcome something that hit me

From Starting off with zero confidence and feeling like I didn’t belong, I have come a long way, most of that I owe to music. Choir is who I am, of the students here at PHS I fall under the category of “choir kid”, I am proud to wear that label. Along my way through choir, I have developed a love for fitness through choir. Some of the friends I have made through the years have been bodybuilders, they taught me to not care what others think of me, and if I did have a problem with what they thought, to prove them wrong, to show them that you can become. Music has made me into this person I want to be. I have found a true passion in music, choir has made me be into person I am. Its

Sometimes life lessons are learned the hard way. Unfortunately for me, this is how I learned mine. I do not mean to make this sad and depressing, but this is the truth.

In the moment, my abilities never faltered. I kind of like that about myself. I may worry, but when it comes down to it, I’m pretty persevering. Despite this, I harbored mixed feelings about singing again.

After that moment, I no longer saw myself as an intelligent kid who was unable to fail, but one who was and could be challenged by failure and challenged to learn from my mistakes. After revising the essay, I received an “A+,” yet this was not what made me happy. The fact that I, the twelve-year-old boy who had previously rejected failure as a possibility, could accept failure (by my standards) and use it as

Today, I eat lunch with friends, I find comfort in my clubs, and sometimes, I fail. When I lived in Florida, I never had to cope with failure, as everything came to me easily. What I know now is that failure is an unavoidable aspect of life, and I know I’ll encounter it wherever I end up. When I moved up the East Coast, I learned how to face failure head on and accept that there are days when I can’t be perfect. But I am now able to learn from my failures and keep them in mind when moving

I never sang too loud so if I messed up, no one would hear it .After every class I would go up to my Choir or band director with about five questions. But it simply was not enough. So my sophomore year I was given vocal lessons that taught me that I can match pitch consistently , and that my range was bigger than I ever thought it could be. I discovered a talent that I loved and I intended to perfect it .I performed in multiple cabarets and had the opportunity to sing with my choir at the Carnegie music hall. I was finally getting the swing of music; but that was not enough due to my obstinacy. I wanted to learn

Coming into my freshman year of high school my voice was underdeveloped and that of an amatuer, still I was determined to mold it into something wonderful. This was the beginning of my high school career, acting as such I planned to put myself out there in order to be noticed by anyone, as well as auditioning for solo opportunities outside of school. These new prospects were running through my mind one day while I sat in biology. Being the naive freshman I was, I surrounded myself with people I had considered to be my “good” friends, good friends despite every sense and feeling in my body telling me otherwise. Between my fantasies of musical stardom and success, my acquaintances had begun a discussion on singing. The

While the failures everyday teenagers go through pale in comparison to that of an adult, if I were to pick one instance of failure, and the lessons entailed, it would be my rejection from becoming my high school band’s drum major. During my sophomore year, I signed up to try out for drum major. There were five of us total, and only one of us could be the next drum major. The audition was during band camp, and we have trained all summer for it. Unfortunately, I did not succeed in becoming the next drum major. From this experience, I have learned that failure can be a valuable teacher, to commit to areas where I find the most passion and to manage my tasks at hand more effectively. My lessons started with failure.

As I unlocked my jaw from my mouth, nothing came out. The director and the instructor stared at me with open jaws. They weren’t able to take me in because I had lost my voice. I was the quiet 14-year-old, who lost the ability to sing falsetto anymore. My only strength was my baritone voice, but the choir, at the time, did not start a boy choir in their choir yet. I auditioned yet again, but the same result happened; however, this time, they had troubadours for me to start my life in choir: The choir that is called the South Bay Children’s Choir (SBCC)

Regardless of the outcome of every dilemma or crisis, it is imperative that we learn how to adapt and move on and continue to be happy. If we choose to let our problems and upsets eat us alive, we will be living very unhealthy and depressing. I’ve had one dream and one dream only while in high school, to become a drum major for the marching band. It was my first year marching, I am a sophomore, auditions for section leader were soon and I was prepared to execute all the practice that I had put into my audition, an upperclassmen and friend of mine said “You’ll be so lucky if you make it because you are young” and I replied “You are right, Imagine if I score high enough to become eligible for drum major auditions”. We both erupted in laughter because we knew that would not happen. Finally, auditions day came and I nailed it. I gave it my all. Results were posted that weekend. To everyone’s surprise I was one of very few sophomores to become a section leader and one of two to be eligible for the drum major spot. However, my auditions were weak and it slipped out of my hands, this was very difficult for me. Then came my junior year auditions and I went in extremely confident that it was going to be me. I had a flawless audition but the odds were not in my favor. I was broken, depressed that whole summer going into my senior year. My friends and coworkers at Peter Piper Pizza cheered me

One success that makes me who I am is learning to sing. I love music, and I especially love to sing. The feeling I get when I sing is unlike any other. I feel more connected to the world. Sometimes I feel as though I’ve always been able to sing. This, however, is not the case. My mom is really into singing, she likes to make up songs as she goes about what she’s doing. When I was little, I loved to hear her sing, and would request certain songs. Mom tried to teach me how to sing myself, but I just couldn’t seem to get it. One day, as we were walking in a Walmart parking lot, Mom sang the scales from The Sound of Music, and I managed to sing it too. I was off pitch, but after that, Mom was able to teach me how to sing. Learning how to sing was a really big success for me. Being in chorus and singing are integral parts of who I am today, and through singing I’ve learned important lessons, such as following directions, when to open my mouth (and when to keep it shut), and most importantly, how to empathize

With every new choir season I auditioned, and with every audition I failed. Although the reasons for my rejection varied with each attempt, I always had trouble with pitch. As this became a trend into my high school years, I began to doubt my ability. Although I still enjoyed singing in the choir and felt I had a place there, failing the solo auditions over and over again hurt. No matter how hard I worked, my pitch control did not improve, but I was determined to get a solo part. After five years of work and on my tenth audition, I was finally chosen for a part. This reaffirmed for me that if I am determined enough, I can do anything I put my mind

Traditionally, failure is seen as a negative concept and is defined as lacking success. I, on the other hand, try to put a positive spin on everything in life. I see failure as an obstacle that is experienced by all, but it does not define an individual. Failure in essence will force an individual to be more receptive to their surroundings and actions and also will force an individual to mature. Looking back on my childhood years I can now pinpoint the areas where I failed and I can confidently say that I have grown and prospered due to those failures. The three major failures I have experienced were my attention deficit issues which affected my ability to succeed in school, my anti-social habit that I let consume my early years, and my