Have you ever failed a class?

[lribookend]

The year was 1977. I was preparing for my fourth year at the University of Kentucky. Needing money (what college kid doesn't?), I had applied for a position as a Tutor/Instructor in the Developmental Studies Program

Comments

[egress]

What a wonderful entry! Thanks for sharing! Even as we attempt to intellectually dissect the others' ideas of traditional success, I think we will always be haunted by them.

[lribookend]

I agree. Our competitive society seems to equate success to winning. Unfortunately, many situations are set up to encourage few, and sometimes only a single "winner", with many more "losers". Even at a very early age, when no official "score" was kept by adults (such as soccer or basketball leagues for the very young), the kids became very adept at keeping score in their heads so they could proudly proclaim they were the winners, or bemoan the loss. This was in spite of the fact that the adults tried very hard to proclaim everyone a "winner". It just didn't work, the kids knew exactly how much they had scored individually, and as a team, compared to the other team.
It is only much later in life when one begins to measure success in terms of internal happiness, and less by the opinions/measures of others.