26A - Celebrating Failure

1. During this past semester, I feel as though I failed at giving 100% in the things that I was doing. Since I am taking classes this summer, working 20-25 hours a week, and trying to get ready to move into my new apartment, I feel as though I did not give any of these my full attention. In doing so, did not perform to the best of my abilities.  
2. As a perfectionist, I know I am really hard on myself to do the best I can do in every circumstance that presents itself to me. Whenever I got a grade that was not an A, I felt defeated and like I failed because I knew I could have done better.  I learned that I can't stretch myself too thin and that there needs to be a time where I say "no." Another good lesson I learned is that even if I don't do as well as I hoped, there is another assignment coming up which means another opportunity to prove myself.
3. Failure is extremely crushing for me. I am the oldest of four kids in my family and failure is not an option because all of my siblings look up to me as a role model. I do not like when others see me fail because I see it as a sign of weakness and I like to be viewed as strong at all times. I shut down and separate myself from everything that is going on. However, I am working hard to be better at accepting and learning from my failure to make me stronger in the future. This class has taught me that failure is just another step in the creative process and can ultimately lead to greater success.