I passed 2 out of the 3 Psych honours exams which I wrote in January. It's the first time I've failed an exam and don't quite know what to do with these feelings.
Option 1: The group U2 have a philosophy: If they record two bad records in a row they vowed to hang up their musical boots. Is this time for me to do the same and focus on what I have achieved so far?
Option 2: Register again and nail this SOB of a subject?
Option 3: I don't have to have this subject, perhaps register for other courses?
All I know is now I feel a bit sick.
4 comments:
Hi Wes,
Commiserations my friend! Fortunately I am of the disposition that has failed at many, many, many things in my life! In large part it is because I am not all that discerning of what I attempt to do! Like deciding to ride my BMX of the roof of my parents' home in to the pool in the backyard... I never quite made the pool, but I did have a lot of fun at the hospital (if you know what I mean!?)
But, my life has been a bit like that - go full bore, and if it doesn't work, go on to the next thing... My doctorate was more of an attempt to win a bet than it was an exercise in academic scholarship. Ha ha! Well, perhaps there was a day of two of academic pursuit in years 3 and 4 ;-)
I know that you are much more discerning and deliberate about your choices and actions. There are great blessings in that (of course you seldom fail, and whatever you do is done well and deliberately - like your new book on financial crisis which I have been reading! A superb piece of work!) But, the downside is that you do feel the pain of failure quite acutely when it does come (and I fear to say that all of us fail at some point)...
My recent post on 'the cult of done (and the cult of Dion)' may offer a little bit of 'stuffit pass turkey I'm going bowling in my underpants' mentality... ;-) You can read it here The cult of being done and on being 'Dion'.
Be blessed Wes, you're still the smartest guy I know!
Dion
Eish, Wessel! I feel for you, for I have known that sick feeling of finding out that you didn't make it.
I'd love to have an appropriate piece of Scripture with which to encourage you, but this time I can only draw inspiration from cycling. That exhiliration of wind in your face, being out in the open air, seeing the glory of God's creation, and - getting punctures!
See this failed exam as just another "puncture" in that great ride called life. And just like when you ride a bicycle, when you puncture, you stop, get off, fix the puncture, inflate the tube, get back on the bike, and RIDE.
I'm not going to tell you what you should do about the course you failed, but give it some time, and don't make too hasty a decision about it. If it makes you feel better, it took me three "punctures" to pass Statistics 1 when doing my accounting studies. I also had two goes at Commercial Law 1, and needed a "sub" to get through Accounting 3. I'm thankful to God that there have been no punctures in my Theology studies so far (although there was a bit of a speed wobble in first year when I squeaked through Interpreting Texts on moderation!)
Blessings,
Steven
If I were you (which I'm not) I'd go for Option 3.
When I was at school my headmaster made me opt for Latin rather than history, which I would have preferred.
He advised me to take Latin and Greek at university, which I did, and failed them both while passing my other subjects. Like a fool, I took them again and failed them again.
If you don't like it and don't need it, it might be better to opt for something else.
I am so sorry for you! But it happens to us all at some time or other. You just work so much harder than the rest of us so your disappointment is so much greater than ours!
Take heart my friend.... Let the disappointment fade away, and be replaced by all the good things you feel when you do well...
Lovies to you Nat and the boys!
Jen
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