When I look back on all my schooling (there’s been lots), I’ll admit to a roller-coaster of failure and success. Also, I’ll confess to bringing many bad study habits to the table for the failures. The successes were sometimes more a result of learning how to play the game rather than an indication of any academic acumen. An audit of my marks over the years would reveal evaluations that are truly all over the map. That’s a bad thing ... Isn’t it?.
It’s definitely a bad thing, when “crash & burn” marks won’t lead to the wallpaper of certificates, diplomas and degrees that can get you where you think you might want to go. But when you’ve arrived at mid-life with a nice smattering of paperwork on the wall, you realize that despite any unflattering marks on your record, the learning was never affected. When learning is the issue, you can look back on the ups and downs of the journey as a very good thing. The measure of learning was never contained in marks; it’s contained in the mind - how you think and how you see the world. It’s just unfortunate it takes a retrospective look at the journey many years later to understand the failures were just as important as the successes.
I like to think the most learned people are those who truly understand both failure and success.
It’s definitely a bad thing, when “crash & burn” marks won’t lead to the wallpaper of certificates, diplomas and degrees that can get you where you think you might want to go. But when you’ve arrived at mid-life with a nice smattering of paperwork on the wall, you realize that despite any unflattering marks on your record, the learning was never affected. When learning is the issue, you can look back on the ups and downs of the journey as a very good thing. The measure of learning was never contained in marks; it’s contained in the mind - how you think and how you see the world. It’s just unfortunate it takes a retrospective look at the journey many years later to understand the failures were just as important as the successes.
I like to think the most learned people are those who truly understand both failure and success.
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