The Inevitability of Failure

I am finally in Boston. As I predicted, the last ten days before leaving for Boston flew by between cleaning out my room and visiting relatives and friends. I am pleased to say that I accomplished everything I had planned to do, even though I left 2 days ahead of schedule. It is always good tie up any and all loose ends.

I sometimes feel that I have to force topics for discussions with this blog. It is mainly because I have not begun dental school. My hope is that once I begin, topics will become more plentiful and as a result, more frequent.

But, I do have something to discuss today other than an update on my current location. It is in regards to an article I came across in one of the many computer coding blogs out there. Do not let the fact that it comes from a coding website put you off. It is certainly worth your time. If you decided to read on, no worries. My entry will talk about it more or less.

During my interview for Tufts, I was asked what my greatest failure in life had been. At the time, I could not think of anything. Absolutely nothing. Noticing that I was at a loss for words, the interviewer asked if I had every failed an exam, class, etc. I said I had not, but I did not always get my desired grade.

I want to apologize to that interview because I lied. I had failed more than one exam in college and barely passed a few classes. Those times just never made it to the forefront of my mind and out of my mouth.

That is where this article comes in. In it the author discusses the findings of a researcher who interviewed former neurosurgeons that had either left or let go by their respective programs, in order to see what differentiated those that succeeded versus those that failed. One may think that the difference is that the successful neurosurgeons were smarter, more studious, and more capable than their failed counterparts, but this was not the case; instead, the researcher found those that succeeded were as equally apt to make mistakes as those that failed, but the difference came in how each group viewed their mistakes. Those that completed the neurosurgeory program viewed their mistakes as part of the process, whereas those that quite or were let go never looked at mistakes as their fault. Unfortunate for the latter, they viewed mistakes as something totally out of their control. Talk about a difference in viewpoints.

In this case, the differences in these viewpoints have profound effects on these individual's life trajectory. It also exposes a more deep-seated problem: the inability to recognize and thus learn from one's mistakes.

I am too familiar with this attitude. For years, I regarded many of my poor grades on my written exams and term papers in college to be the fault of the professors. Looking back on it, I think my reaction ridiculous, but at the time it seemed like a perfectly plausible feeling. What it really was was my inability to recognize that I had fucked up and needed to go back to the drawing board on how I organized, developed, and coordinated my thoughts on paper. Fortunate for me, I met someone who helped me do just that. You could almost call me a "recovering mistake deflector" because I was exactly that.

Although I still find it hard to accept every mistake as my own, I can proudly say that I am now more apt to recognize mistakes and learn from them. In doing so, I have bettered both my writing and oral communication skills. It was only by making these improvements that I was able to get a job and into dental school. Well worth putting your pride to the side, don't you think?

In closing, mistakes happen and what you learn from those mistakes can make or break you. Unlike the successful neurosurgeons out there, I find this a difficult every day task. I guess I am still recovering.

Words to live by as I begin my mistake-filled journey into dental school.