which idea should I choose for a failure essay?

[bsajeev]

Hi guys, what do you think makes a good failure essay? I have two ideas so far

1. was involved in my uni's medical club a lot, did volunteering there and built close bonds with eboard. I wanted to be chair of their health disparities in med subcommittee. I prepared for the interview and practiced with my dog lol. The actual interview was me against like 5 other candidates and there were 4 people interviewing us and I got really nervous. I wasnt good at public speaking to begin with and I kept stuttering and shaking. Obviously did not get the role. But, I worked on public speaking skills by being a TA for big lectures and everything so I've definitely improved.
2. my weakness is taking on too many things at once and then not being able to time manage well between them. One semester, I was an undergrad TA but I was also taking a bunch of other classes, was a volunteer TA for another, tutored students in my class, and was doing research. I was supposed to host a final exam review with my fellow TA and because of everything going on during finals week (i was stuck in my research lab doing plasmid extractions), I completely forgot and didn't get there until it was halfway over. I let down my fellow TA and my boss basically told me not to come back next semester. I've learned to be wayyyy more organized and not take on too many things at once. If i choose this one Im worried itll look really bad, how should I frame it?

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[Mr.Smile12]

1) you lost. You didn't fail.
2) that's a personal weakness.

 

[bsajeev]

1) you lost. You didn't fail.
2) that's a personal weakness.

for 1 wouldn't the failure be that I didn't get the role due to poor public speaking skills?
and for 2 is there a way I could frame it better for the failure essay? I thought it would count as a failure because I basically got fired because of it and it's not like I just ended up getting the job back next semester, so no overcoming a challenge.

 

[CheeesyBoi]

for 1 wouldn't the failure be that I didn't get the role due to poor public speaking skills?
and for 2 is there a way I could frame it better for the failure essay? I thought it would count as a failure because I basically got fired because of it and it's not like I just ended up getting the job back next semester, so no overcoming a challenge.

I feel like you could frame it better and really highlight what you've learned from it and concrete examples of how this learning process has bettered you

Take this with a grain of salt though, I am also applying so I don't totally know what I am talking about 🤣

 

[Mr.Smile12]

for 1 wouldn't the failure be that I didn't get the role due to poor public speaking skills?

For all I know, people liked the other candidates better than you for the role, and your discomfort with public speaking only confirmed their thoughts. That's not a failure on your part.

for 2 is there a way I could frame it better for the failure essay? I thought it would count as a failure because I basically got fired because of it

I'd be more impressed if you failed despite using a strength. Here, you focus on your lack of proper time management skills.

If you were on a cooking competition show and your lack of time management resulted in you not completing your plates on time (because cooking is your presumed strength), then I'm more inclined to think of your inability to execute as a failure. I also don't understand that your "failure" really cost your boss or your team (from your description). Maybe if you described it as you dropped the ball in a team assignment that caused your entire team to get F's.

 

[bsajeev]

For all I know, people liked the other candidates better than you for the role, and your discomfort with public speaking only confirmed their thoughts. That's not a failure on your part.


I'd be more impressed if you failed despite using a strength. Here, you focus on your lack of proper time management skills.

If you were on a cooking competition show and your lack of time management resulted in you not completing your plates on time (because cooking is your presumed strength), then I'm more inclined to think of your inability to execute as a failure. I also don't understand that your "failure" really cost your boss or your team (from your description). Maybe if you described it as you dropped the ball in a team assignment that caused your entire team to get F's.

Following this logic, for my failure essay do you think I could write about tennis in high school and college? I was very good during practice and beat almost all of my teammates. But when we had official competitions against other teams, I was under a lot of pressure and I couldn't win a single match. Could I also talk about improving later, becoming captain of the tennis team, and learning to be more calm under pressure/be a good leader -> therefore winning later matches (2 years after)? or is that more of a challenge essay?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Following this logic, for my failure essay do you think I could write about tennis in high school and college? I was very good during practice and beat almost all of my teammates. But when we had official competitions against other teams, I was under a lot of pressure and I couldn't win a single match. Could I also talk about improving later, becoming captain of the tennis team, and learning to be more calm under pressure/be a good leader -> therefore winning later matches (2 years after)? or is that more of a challenge essay?

You could, but I would want to know what the "failure" is and what you learned from it. I need your logic to better understand if you are describing just adversity or a failure.

 

[bsajeev]

You could, but I would want to know what the "failure" is and what you learned from it. I need your logic to better understand if you are describing just adversity or a failure.

Well, since I couldn't win a single match, they kicked me out of the team which was devastating for me. I loved tennis and had been playing for years (albeit not in competitions). So i guess the failure would be me getting cut from the team. After I was kicked out, I focused on improving and signing up for local matches so I could practice in front of crowds. I think 2 years after that, I went back to the tennis club, joined the team again and eventually became team captain. I learned to work better under pressure, lead/motivate a team, and trust myself more.