1) Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed -- whether in this class, or outside of this class. Don't spare any details! It'd be even better if there was something you tried several times this semester, and failed each time. 
  • A time last semester I felt a huge amount of failure was in my news reporting class. I was going through a really hard time in my personal life and found the class extremely difficult to well in. We were required to write in AP style and turn in a "breaking news" story every week, which I found very challenging, especially for Gainesville. My TA was really strict on grading, and learning an entirely new way of writing proved to be very difficult for me. I was doing very poorly in the class for the first couple of weeks and received my first F on an assignment in college. Eventually, I did a ton of extra credit and starting to get the hang of the class and the assignments, but the first couple of months left me feeling really defeated. 

2) Tell us what you learned from it.  
  • This class made me realize that not everything is going to come easy to me and there are going to be very difficult classes in college. It was the first class I truly thought I might not get through, but I forced myself to push through and I eventually passed. It definitely was a wakeup call for me that not everyone is going to be helpful to me at such a big university, and I will be having to figure things out for myself. 

3) Reflect, in general, on what you think about failure. Failure is hard, isn't it? It's embarrassing, sure, but it also means that we have to change something about ourselves. Talk about how you handle failure (emotionally, behaviorally). Finally, talk about how this class has changed your perspective on failure -- are you more likely to take a risk now than you were just a few months ago?
  • Failure is hard, but it is something we all have to go through to realize that life is not easy. Some things are going to come really easily, but there are some things that are extremely difficult that you might not be able to handle. It's important to experience failure in order to grow from it and learn from your mistakes. Failure is definitely a really hard wakeup call, but we all need to go through it. This class changed my perspective on failure because I learned that you can fail momentarily but succeed in the end if you try hard enough and don't let the failure consume you.