By Tristan Vilareal
I’ve come to realize that life moves pretty quickly. You’re a senior high school student thinking about your future, and then suddenly, you’re dropped at the center of everything, forced to adjust and comply.
The workload becomes overwhelming, far beyond what you expected. You’re losing sleep, motivation, and passion. You’re desperately trying to make things work and fall into place, but you can’t. Every task feels like a chore, pushing you closer to your limit. Before you know it, you’re shifting from your “dream course” to a different program.
But life is like that. As they say, the compass was made before the clock. It doesn’t matter how long you take or how much time you spend, as long as you have direction, you’ll find your way. Your journey might take longer than someone else’s, and it may bring its own unique set of problems, but that doesn’t make your path any less meaningful. You’re moving. You’re growing. You’re not stagnant. Most importantly, you’re leaving room for change, and that’s what matters.
Life is an everlasting journey of failure and growth. Without failure, you wouldn’t learn, and without learning, you wouldn’t grow. They go hand in hand.
One of the many things I’ve come to realize in my 19 years of existence is that it’s better to try and fail than to never try at all.
Trying gets you used to discomfort. It puts you in unfamiliar situations with little knowledge of what to do, forcing you to learn, adapt, and overcome. You won’t become good at anything overnight. It takes time, patience, and discipline. Sometimes, it takes blood, sweat, and tears. And perhaps that’s what makes us human.
It’s human to fail. It’s also human to get back up when the odds are stacked against you. But it’s equally human to understand your limitations.
With constant failure comes a sense of limitation, a subconscious barrier that prevents you from going beyond what you believe you’re capable of. Breaking through that barrier gives you more room to grow. It gives you the motivation to go further the next time and a better understanding of what you need to improve.
So, don’t be ashamed of failure. Failure is part of being human. More importantly, failure teaches you, shapes you, and helps you grow into a more capable and experienced version of yourself.
