I believe in a person’s ability to never give up, and to learn from their mistakes. Even when everything is conspiring to keep them down and unsuccessful causing a person to fail miserably, that person can use this as motivation to do better the next time. This belief came from one of most memorable experiences in my life.

From the time I learned what a college was, I always assumed that I could succeed in any goal I set for myself whether I worked for it or not, but while in middle school I was proved completely wrong.

While I was in the eighth grade I had a very close group of about four friends. We did everything together; we all registered for the same classes, worked on projects together, and even convinced our parents to go to the same restaurants so we could eat together. And as it happened all of us decided we would apply to Stanton’s I.B. program and go to high school with each other. My friends instantly began to work harder in school, and they all started joining more community service activities, so they would have a more impressive application to Stanton. I, foolishly, was not working harder, though, because of my false perception that in the end Stanton would come to realize my true “greatness” and accept into their high school.

Everyone I knew tried time and time again to convince me that I needed to work harder to succeed in my goals, by I just blew them off knowing that I would definitely get into Stanton. As it turned out I was not accepted into Stanton, I was one point shy, one community service activity away. All my friends, on the other hand, were accepted to Stanton, and went there too; leaving me to make new friends, along with a new perception of how to succeed in life. I learned that in life success was not guaranteed, for anyone. And from that point on I became determined to never let my laziness ever get in the way of my success in life again.

After my defeat, I never looked back, I became more persistent, and devoted to my work, which insured that if I was going to fail, I would fail knowing that I gave it my all. Since then, I have consistently earned A’s in most of my classes, including the college classes that I have started this year, and have accomplished all of the goals that I have set for myself. I have even succeeded in the goals I have set for myself in non-academic areas, like golf.

In the past I was slightly depressed for losing my best friends, but the success I have had since then has taught me failure is not always bad, and if you use it the right way can lead to extra motivation. Now I believe what happened was in my best interest.