Celebrating Failure

I think one example of failure that most college students can relate to is the job search. This semester, I experienced a lot of rejection throughout my internship search. Not having a true path or plan I wanted to follow, I initially applied to what seemed like  every company with an internship that matched my career goals. I quickly received rejections from some, and never received a response from many others. This can seem frustrating, especially after spending a lot of valuable time on the applications. Despite feeling pretty diminished, I reminded myself to be resilient, and kept improving my resume and application skills. Just when I was preparing for a whole shift to applying for internships I didn't truly want, but thought were better than nothing, the perfect fit came along. This company, which seemed almost too good to be true, ended up giving me an offer.
I learned to be resilient and have grit. When facing failure, especially a pattern of failure, funnel your disappointment into finding out what you can improve, and working to make those adjustments. I know that before this semester, I feared failure. I didn't want the embarrassment or the sense that I wasn't good enough. But throughout my experiences, and reflection from this class, I have developed the perspective that failure is incredibly necessary. We need it to learn, we need it to guide us, and we need it to make us stronger. Failure is an opportunity to rise above a challenge and prove what you can do.