Failure is NOT an option

On Monday, my grades were posted for my first semester of my Bachelor's degree in Petroleum Engineering. When I was in junior college I did not mind passing with a C because that meant I was done with that class and I could move on. When I started at UTPB in January, I had set high expectations for myself. I told myself that throughout my entire Bachelor's degree that I was going to make nothing less than a "B". That did not happen this first semester.

I should have been happy and proud of myself that I made it through my first semester. I saw my grades and was glad that I had passed, yet disappointed in myself for not earning those A's and B's I wanted so badly. I had worked so hard through this semester. I stayed busy with work, school, homework and training. I kept beating myself up about it. I told myself that I could have done so much better had I just studied more or spent more time on my homework to understand everything fully. Monday was a hard day for me.

When I started this degree, I wanted to prove to myself that I was smart enough to earn this degree. It was important to me and still is to make sure I succeed at this. Yes, I have failed multiple classes. I have always been told though that I don't fail until I completely quit. Every time I failed a class, I would sign up again and redo it. I used to be ashamed of failing classes until I found out that I can learn more the second time around. Failure used to be such an ugly word for me. I have grown to like it though because it means I get to have a second opportunity to learn more. I look at everything now as an opportunity to grow. I have enjoyed the challenging things in school (especially the engineering math). I have always wanted things to come easy and just happen on their own. That is not how things happen though. If you do not put in the work then you won't see any results. I will always remember that failure is not an option and I will achieve everything I set my mind to.