As over dramatic as it may sound, one of the most important perspective changes in my life occurred in the 7th grade, my first bad grade. With just a tad of overreacting on my part at the time, it felt almost as if my life was crashing all around me. Everything I had learned prior to that moment came easily. There was no use for studying, I could finish all my work with little inconveniences, and learning was as easy as just sitting in the classroom listening. 

When I had seen the grade I had gotten on the assignment, that shall not be named, it felt unreal. Even knowing that there were plenty of things to help me bring my grade back up, it felt as if my heart was pumping too loud for me to notice those opportunities as my eyes had stayed fixed on the grade at the top of my paper, seemingly mocking me.

That situation had taught me three things: you won’t be good at everything in your life instantly, when in times of need you have to take advantage of all the resources available to you, and when in a distressing situation, don’t panic. The more you panic, the less you think clearly and the harder the time you’ll end up having due to all of the stress. 

After that moment, I had taken full advantage of all the extra credit opportunities, study sheets, and anything else my teacher had provided us at the time to help us with our future tests and was eventually able to turn my grade around. I am thankful that it had happened sooner, in my middle school days, as opposed to later, when the consequences of failure would have a much greater price. In hindsight, I realize that it had not been much of a big deal, but I am thankful for that moment and the slight sprinkle of overreaction because if I had thought at the time that it wasn’t a big deal, I wouldn’t have been able to develop my learning and studying habits as well as work ethic that have proven useful over the past few years. 

In today’s society we, as students, are accustomed to panic, stress, worry, and, at times, despair when something doesn’t go the way we plan it, but we should learn to also forgive ourselves for our mistakes while also learn from those mistakes so that we do not repeat them. Everything you do is a step towards your goal, even if it doesn’t go exactly as planned, any step made is progress.