Guess who! It’s your friendly neighborhood Alex back again! Thank you to all of those who took the poll in the last post. It was very helpful in knowing what my peoples want. So, I’m back again with another life lesson that I have learned in my college experience. You may be asking, “Alex, what do you mean when you say ‘failure is always an option’?” Well, let me enlighten you.

When I was in high school, I was a straight-A student. I never got anything below a 90 average if I could help it. As I transitioned into my life here at Lipscomb, I had a rough time with one of my classes (biology, to be specific). I knew deep down after my first test that I would not be making an A in that class…ever.

Starting out with a class average of 64 (lab grade included) was a tough pill to swallow for me. I thought my whole world was crashing down before me in a fiery mass. It made me consider if college was even the right option for me.

In that time, I wanted to drop out of college and give up on my dream of going to medical school. All I wanted to do was go back to Texas, drown myself in a gallon tub of Blue Bell strawberry ice cream and watch NCIS all day. But after my two-week pity party, I remembered a quote that I kept off of the show, Mythbusters. “Failure is always an option.”

Before this moment, I never really understood the meaning behind why failure could be considered an option. I knew what it was like to fail a test, and it never really affected me because I could always ask for extra credit or something to help bring my grade up.

But college is so different than high school.

Extra credit is nonexistent, and failing one test could be the difference whether or not you pass the class (especially when you only have four test grades and no homework). But this quote kept resonating in my head. I remembered that the Mythbusters were well-renowned scientists, and they constantly had experiments that they busted or, in other words, failed.

After talking with various important people in my life, I came to terms with the fact that it’s OK to fail. We, as humans, were not created to always succeed in the things we want to accomplish. We need things like a failure in our lives so that we can take a step back from the small picture and look at the whole picture.

Because of my failing the first test and having a GPA-wrecking average, I learned that it’s okay not to be good at everything. Heck, it’s OK to be terrible! As long as you keep trying your hardest, giving it your best effort, and never giving up. You will succeed eventually. Look at me, I passed my biology class after failing for a solid half a semester.

If you have any life lessons that you want to share, feel free to leave a comment in the comment section below. Remember, friends, you’ve got this! Until next time…Keep it kinda classy!