Disappointing Results

Hey everyone! :)

You know, things cannot always go well. Indeed, they often go quite wrong and it is up to you to turn them into something a bit better.

I received my first year university results about a month ago and, to be honest, I was quite disappointed.I did not fail the year and I still could have done a lot worse; yet, I had expected a bit more considering the effort I put in.

Life isn’t always fair though. After initially feeling seriously wronged, I have now reached the next phase of acceptance (I think).

Yes, I haven’t done as well as I thought and hoped.

Yes, I feel like the grade does not reflect the effort I put in.

BUT

That doesn’t mean that my life is over.

I can improve and once I receive feedback I can work on what I did wrong.

I probably didn't deserve a better grade.

This time I just was not good enough.

The first thing my mum said to me was that ‘no one can take away the knowledge’.

 At first, I didn’t quite understand what she was saying.

I slowly realised that what she meant was that despite my work being graded a certain way, it is just a piece of work. The content, the actual knowledge that I had acquired and the effort I put in had not suddenly vanished.

Even though that is, in my view, a nice and comforting thought, it does not take away this sense of failure and disappointment.

Often, people feel pressurised by parents, other family members or friends to do well.

I pressurised myself. Had someone else been disappointed, I would maybe have felt better; I could’ve at least been angry with that someone for expecting a certain grade from me.

Now, all that was left was being angry with myself, which felt like this massive weight on my shoulders which would not go away.

So what helped me feel better? Time, I guess. As soon as I stopped feeling shocked I could concentrate on other things – meeting up with friends, starting a summer job – and now the results feel distant, cloudy almost.

Why should I be angry with myself for much longer if I cannot change anything about it right now? Is there any point in being angry? 

Who knows, maybe those grades will turn out to be a good thing. If everything happens for a reason, then this could have been necessary in some way.

On that note, let’s just move on. If you received disappointing results then try to make the most of them. Treat them like a wake up call, a motivating push to try and do better next time. No matter what stage in life you are at, bad results are not the end.

Let me know what you think

xxx