The following blog post was written by Abby Brook, a sophomore in the Elliott School studying international affairs, the Middle East, international development, and music. You can find out more about Abby here.
On about my fourth week in Valparaíso, Chile, something happened that could have happened anywhere in the world: I slept through my alarm. Now normally, this would not have been a big deal, but today was unique. Today, I was waking up at 5 am to go on a beautiful hike in La Campana National Park with a group of friends from my program. This hike is special because when you got to the top, you can see all the way from the Pacific Ocean to the Andes that are splayed across Chile’s beautiful landscape. This was also my last weekend in Chile, and possibly my only chance to ever experience this truly incredible beauty.
As I double-checked my phone clock to make sure I hadn’t read it wrong, a thousand thoughts zoomed through my head. It was 7 am, my host family was asleep, my friends were long gone, and none of them had cell service here towards the tip of the earth. More than missing a hike, I felt like I had let a simple mistake allow an experience slip through my fingers. This was by no means a serious activity to miss, but I was disappointed in myself and frustrated. I sat on my couch, befuddled.
But then, I realized something, something I had always known in my heart but now had the chance to act on. I had done so many new and challenging things in the past year: moved across the country by myself, had to figure out how to adapt to East Coast culture, made new friends, lost new friends, tried new things, and given up old things. Now here I was, in a new country with a different language, culture, and way of life. I had come this far and decided I would not let an alarm dictate my day.
I was strong, independent, and capable. I could go alone.
I knew that I needed to catch two buses, called micros. Micros are one of the main ways to get around in Valparaíso. To take the micro, you have to raise your hand on the sidewalk so the bus will stop and you have to know where you need to get off so you can alert the driver–not an easy task for a gringa like myself, even with my proficient Spanish skills. I threw together a sack lunch consisting of pan y banana and ran out the door. Once I reached the corner where I had been told the bus would come, I waited several minutes with many micros passing, all going other places. Soon, however, the bus, whose existence I had become skeptical of, appeared.
The experience on the micro captures a snap shot into what being thrown into Chilean culture feels like: at times overwhelming, but always saturated with incredibly kind people. There are some unspoken rules about riding in the micro. Whenever an elderly person or someone with children gets on and there are no seats, someone immediately offers their seat to them. This kind of kindness to strangers was something I witnessed by Chileans every day. People of every shape and size filed in and out of the crowded bus, on the way to their daily routines.
Given that I had never been to La Campana before, I had no way of knowing when to get off. I eventually got the courage to chat with a couple and ask if they knew where my stop was, and they said they were going to La Campana as well. I relaxed knowing I would get there just fine. I began reflecting on what I had done: taken transportation that I would have never imagined being able to use, spoken easily to Chileans in Spanish, and most importantly realized that I had chosen to go to a completely strange place by myself and I had complete confidence in myself to do all those things.
I ended up catching up to my group on the trail; after all, there is only one trail up and one trail down. As I walked alone, I thought about all the people who had helped me along the way, to reach my humble destination, but also in my path to where I was in my life in that exact moment. So many people had loved and supported me, and were cheering me on from their respective places around the world. By the time I reached the beautiful summit of La Campana and stretched out my arms to feel the crisp Chilean winter air, I realized something equally important.
I may have chosen to go by myself, but I am never alone.
Everyday, everyone has their own mountain to climb. Some
days, it may feel like an anthill and others, Mt. Everest. But I learned two important things that day, thanks to something as silly as missing my alarm.
You can always, ALWAYS, do it, even if it means you have to go by yourself. But remember, no matter where you are, how alone or scared you feel, no matter what mountain you have to climb, you are never, NEVER, alone.
Category: Student Voices
GW Sigma Nu and the Helping Hand Scholarship
Hello, everyone!
Welcome to GW and the University Honors Program! My name is Arian Rubio, and I am a proud member of the UHP and the Sigma Nu fraternity chapter’s Recruitment Chair here at GW.
One of my favorite things about being a member of both is that both the UHP and the fraternity highlight a strong commitment to academic, personal, and professional growth. Both the UHP and the fraternity have people of all years and backgrounds studying different fields and pursuing different career paths, but all of their members come together to make a well-rounded college experience. For example, since I’ve been a brother in the fraternity, I have found true brothers for life, I have improved my grades significantly, and I have been able to grow professionally through our extensive alumni network. When you have a brotherhood that has been on campus uninterrupted for more than 100 years, you find that brothers have many different stories, interests, and achievements. (An notable story that I like to tell is that there is a top trial law firm downtown that has had paid clerks only from our fraternity for nearly 15 years!)
Another interesting thing about our fraternity is our new Helping Hand Scholarship program to award $500 to a qualified first-year student. This program is open to all incoming first-year students, regardless of who you are, what you are interested in, and what you want from your college experience. We want to know what our values of Love, Honor, and Truth mean to you. If you are interested, please fill out this form: http://bit.ly/2b6nYJL. Applications are rolling!
If you have any comments or questions (about the Honors Program, Sigma Nu, or anything about your upcoming college experience), please feel free to email me at arianrubio@gwu.edu. I am always happy to help in any way I can!
Welcome to GW, and I look forward to seeing you on campus!
With Love, Honor, and Truth,
Arian Rubio
Recruitment Chair
Sigma Nu – Delta Pi Chapter
The UHP Goes Greek
The following blog post was written by UHPer Sarah Hampton, a sophomore in the Elliott School. This summer she travelled to Greece with HONR 2054, History of Ancient Philosophy, taught by Professor Ralkowski (who took these wonderful photos!).
In preparation for our trip to Greece, my fellow students and I explored the works of some of the greatest ancient philosophers known to man. Studying their work was incredibly different than experiencing the environment that inspired said works, however; we were unaware of how dramatically our interpretations of these philosophers would change. After weeks of becoming familiar with the traditions of ancient philosophy, we boarded the flights that would carry most of us to our first experience with Greek culture.
CYA, or College Year in Athens, welcomed us to Greece by showing us the apartments we were to call home for the next few days. These apartments, positioned right next to an Olympic stadium, introduced us to the combination of history and modernity that is found within Athens. We began our Grecian experience by exploring different ancient sites every morning with Professor Mark Ralkowski. These tours were led by our personal guide, Dr. Angelos Papadopoulos, who exposed us to the intimate details of ancient Greek history that are unknown to those who visit Greece for purely recreational purposes. He deemed us “travelers, not tourists,” and the distinction between these two terms became incredibly evident throughout the duration of our trip.
After exploring ancient sites every morning, we would often find time to discuss the connections between the sites we were visiting and the material we had read in preparation for the trip. Our perceptions of Greek philosophy grew much richer as we were introduced to the smaller intricacies of Grecian life. These conversations allowed us to utilize both academic texts and our first-hand experience in Greece, which transformed them from merely educational conversations to ones that allowed us to truly connect ancient philosophy with the modern world.
Once finished conversing and exploring various sites, we were free to roam the city of Athens and experience Greek culture on our own terms. This aspect of the trip was incredibly educational, for it allowed us to really emerge ourselves into a culture that was completely different from that of our own. We were able to see the difference between the city of Athens and the mountainous region of Delphi as well as the more coastal regions of the Peloponnese. By interacting directly with the Greek culture around us, we were able to bridge the gap between tourists and travelers. We were able to immerse ourselves in the history and culture of another country while simultaneously connecting ancient history with modern phenomena.
The opportunity to learn Greek philosophy while within Greece itself was one that thoroughly impacted myself and my classmates. We developed a newfound appreciation for the global culture and grew in our capabilities as students. This trip provided us with unimaginable opportunities to learn, from discussing the works of Plato on the seats within Plato’s academy, to practicing Socratic debate methods mere meters from the prison in which he was held, and from analyzing the famous Parthenon to playing amongst the rocks at the bottom of the Temple of Poseidon. After directly immersing ourselves into Greek culture, we were profoundly changed as people; this identified us as travelers, rather than simply tourists appreciating culture on a superficial level. We were able to better understand the thought process of the philosophers we had studied, as we were finally able to understand the culture and environment in which their philosophies developed. Greece pushed us to grow not only as students of The George Washington University, but as students of the world as well.
Study Ablog: From Paris/DC/Barcelona with Love
The following blog post was written by peer advisor Michaela, a SEAS junior studying Civil Engineering and International Affairs. Learn more about Michaela here.
During my sophomore year, I was set on studying abroad in the fall of my junior year. I had everything: syllabi from four different schools, appointments set up with my department to approve courses, an Excel sheet set up to track my progress, even Pinterest board of travel ideas.
However, due to restrictions from my major, all of those plans fell apart. I would be staying on campus my whole junior year.
However, an idea struck me as I began my semester feeling like the one junior not studying abroad: why don’t I just go anyways? I had saved up enough money from my summer internship, and I had friends that were already abroad. Even if they were in classes, I’d be in a whole different city and could probably entertain myself. So that’s exactly what I did. My former roommate/other-half-of-my-brain Alyssa was studying abroad in Paris for a year. I booked a ticket to visit her over spring break and for nine days, I got to “study abroad.”
We visited everywhere: Louvre, Centre Pompidou, the Eiffel Tower, Musee d’Orsay, Sacre Coeur, all the things. Since Alyssa had been in France since the fall, she knew a lot about the city. I also got to go with her program to Barcelona and visit the Miro Foundation and La Sagrada Familia. But I also had a lot of fun on my own when she had to be in class or studying. I wandered around fabric shops and cemeteries and Japanese cheese cafes (no joke, wasabi goat cheese will change your life). While I loved traveling with Alyssa, I also learned a lot about myself in my many walks alone. I could only text US numbers with my phone, so I had to become a lot more reliant on maps and aware of my surroundings. I also realized that having barely any structure to a day was actually wonderful. I once literally followed my nose to a market stall in Barcelona and had the best baked potato of my life. I hadn’t planned to find the potato, nor did I know any of the English names of the ingredients (my limited experience with Spanish had not prepared me for Catalonian).
A lot of students dream of study abroad, but study abroad doesn’t have to be limited to semesters. There are numerous opportunities to study abroad during the summer and to work and volunteer abroad. Even with these alternate opportunities, I think that this experience traveling almost on my own was very rewarding. It may seem scary at first, but as long as you have a semi-plan and someone to turn to in case of an emergency (thank you Alyssa) you can really create a wonderful experience.
The Intern Files: Osa Conservation
The following blog post was written by Peer Advisor Emily, a CCAS junior studying environmental studies and sustainability. You can learn more about Emily here.
Walking into Osa Conservation’s DC Office on a sunny day in August I did not realize I was embarking on a new chapter of my life. I was certainly excited to see what the office would look like, I sincerely wondered if the goals of the organization would be reflected in the office’s atmosphere. I was not disappointed as I entered a warm and cozy floor filled with bright colors and images of the rainforest and its breathtaking wildlife. My personal favorite would have to be either the picture of the soaring macaws or the duck calendar. I instantly was soothed, and knew I was in the right place. As an Environmental Studies major I am extremely passionate about environmental issues and conservation. Osa was the perfect fit for me. Suddenly I was immersed in the world of protecting nature, which is right where I have always aspired to be.
Through my time at Osa I was able to actually make a difference in the environmental world by helping to preserve the Osa peninsula. I think my favorite part of my internship at Osa was the outreach work I did. By spreading the message about our stations in Costa Rica I knew I was bringing awareness to our efforts and potentially encouraging another student or researcher to make the trip to the Osa. With each new person who learned our conservation message I felt as if real change was being made to protect the most biologically intense place on the planet. I learned so much from editing the blogs of researchers and I could directly connect my classes to what I was learning about the Osa.
I never imagined that I would get along so well with everyone else in the office. It seems that caring about the environment attracts a certain type of person, one who is open, friendly, caring, and engaged with the world around them. I loved talking to and learning from everyone in our Office, the neigboring Amazon Conservation Office, as well as our staff down in Costa Rica. My fellow intern, Parita, and I shared a special bond and I am so thankful that my internship not only gave me professional contacts but good friends as well.
In this position I gained a better understanding of how an environmental non-profit functions which is extremely valuable experience for me because working for an organization like Osa has always been a potential career path. I am now better prepared for another internship or even a job that involves non-profit work, communications skills, tropical ecology research, or conservation work. It was so refreshing to be doing work that I could directly see the positive results from. In this role I was helping to improve the larger world and make a significant impact on the wildlife, people, and environment of Costa Rica. When I walked into the Osa office I knew I was doing something that mattered and that made all the difference
The Extra Curricular: Colonial Crossfire
The following post was written by peer advisor Benji, a sophomore studying Political Communication. You can find out more about Benji here.
Hello UHPers and welcome to the home stretch! Spring has sprung and before you know it finals will be over and summer will be here.
GW offers plenty of activities to fill up this last month of school, but one that is particularly important to me, and has been throughout my entire college experience, is Colonial Crossfire. As GWTV’s political news and debate show, Crossfire is a perfect opportunity for aspiring politicos like myself to gain experience and have fun discussing current events with a great group of people.
On each episode of Crossfire we invite two students from opposing sides of the aisle to discuss topics ripped straight from the headlines. The 2016 election has given us no shortage of material but we have also discussed immigration, health care, and foreign policy. We’ve also conduct interviews in studio with GW professors about North Korea and the Zika virus.
As a freshman, I started out doing a lot of work behind the scenes: operating the camera, running the teleprompter, and adjusting the audio. Only a year later I’m the Senior Producer, helping to decide each of our debate topics and playing an integral role in the overall operation of the show. This is an activity where even underclassmen are given the chance to take on leadership roles.
Throughout the past two years Colonial Crossfire has been an instrumental part of my college career. Not only has it has given me the opportunity to learn real world skills that I can use in the workforce; it has provided me with a place to indulge in my political nerdiness. Especially in this chaotic election season, Crossfire is a place where students from across the political spectrum can join in productive, enlightening discussion about important issues.
What’s more, many of those students are in the UHP! Both of our on air talent, moderator Andrew Desiderio and fact checker Casey Decker, are UHPers, as are past executive producers and moderators. There is a long and storied tradition of Honors students playing an important role on Colonial Crossfire. If you ask me, it’s not by coincidence. The two are places where lively discussion is encouraged and community is fostered.
If you’re interested in joining, we are always looking for people who love politics and want a chance to write, edit, research, edit video, and even appear on camera. We use the TV studio in the Media and Public Affairs building, so those on our team also have the chance to learn how to run a control room, monitor audio, work cameras, and more. Colonial Crossfire tapes on Friday mornings several times each semester in SMPA’s fifth floor TV studio. Interested in joining? Email gwcrossfire@gmail.com and hit me up with any questions.
Good luck with the rest of the year!
#HonorsProblems: Asking for an Extension
This blog post was written by Peer Advisor Aaron, a sophomore in the Elliott School studying international affairs and psychology. Learn more about Aaron here.
Why is there such a stigma associated with extensions? Often, asking for an extension feels like an admission of failure in itself. It isn’t. Work piles up. Assignments are due on the same day, or at the end of a long midterms season that’s left you burnt out. Sometimes, we need more time than our professors think we need – they certainly don’t know about the three other midterms you have this week. Asking for an extension, when done correctly, is just like asking for any other type of help. It’s a great way to ensure that you are giving all of your assignments the attention they deserve, turning in high-quality work while avoiding late penalties.
At its worst, an extension arrives in a professor’s inbox sometime in the early AM hours of the assignment’s due date. It’s more begging than asking. It tells the professor two things. First, it tells her that your time management skills are not very good. Second, it says that, even if she grants you an extension, the assignment you will be turning in will not be your best work. This does not bode well for your grade, or mercy on future assignments.
The best way to make an extension work for you instead of against you is by flipping these negatives into positives. Plan ahead! If you’re a few days away from your deadline and you’re already feeling as though you won’t be able to turn in quality work on time, that is the time to go to the professor! Look at you, showing off your strong time management skills and your ability to have the foresight to ask ahead of time. Asking for an extension earlier will absolutely make your professor more receptive to the idea.
Remember to emphasize that the goal in asking for this extension is to ensure that you are turning in your best work. Of course, you could get this paper done by the deadline, but an extra 24 hours to work on it would make the difference between a good paper and a GREAT paper. This demonstrates that you truly care about the work and more importantly, promises the professor that they will be reading something worth the wait by the time it is turned in a day later than originally planned. It’s really a win-win situation. You get extra time to write a better paper and get a better grade. Your professor gets a chance to read your best work and give you that better grade on something she knows you put a lot of effort into making great.
I have asked for an extension before. I was able to finish the paper within hours of the deadline, but because I asked for help I was able to take advantage of a few more hours the next morning. Having that extra time allowed me to make it into something I was proud of and excited to turn in to my professor. Don’t ever be afraid to ask for the help you need. A little extra time is not the most you could ask for (especially when your professor is going to take a month to grade it!).
Study Ablog: From Puerto Rico with Love
The following post was written by Peer Advisor Emily, a CCAS junior studying environmental studies and sustainability. You can find out more about her here!
During my time at GW I have realized that so many students love to give back. Practically every student has a cause that they are passionate about. In high school, I too was an active participant in community service. There are so many ways to get involved with volunteering on and off campus. There are service fraternities, community service clubs, and numerous organizations located all over D.C. that are always looking for volunteers. One day, during my sophomore year, I was searching around on the GW website to find service opportunities when I stumbled upon the page for GW Alternative Breaks. That click changed my life.
I was fortunate enough to spend my winter break that year volunteering on a sustainable farm in Las Marias Puerto Rico. I was drawn to this trip because protecting the environment has always been a cause very near to my heart. While on the farm we spent half the day performing various tasks on the farm and the rest learning in the classroom about green perma-culture practices. As an environmental studies major I am fascinated with the world of sustainable agriculture and the organic food system so this journey was not only educational but it also resonated deeply with me.
During my time in Puerto Rico I got to experience a new and healthier lifestyle, embrace a foreign culture, and form lifelong friendships. I learned how to ingrain sustainability seamlessly into my daily life and I formed a stronger connection with nature. By laying out under the stars and waking up to do yoga as the sun crept over the mountains, I found a sense of inner peace that is simply unattainable in the city. I spent time harvesting coffee, coconuts, and oranges and while doing so I observed a system of farming that works with the natural world instead of against it. I helped to build structures and create compost which taught me the value there is in hard work, especially when working with a team toward a common goal. These are lessons I could not have learned at GW. Sometimes you need to get away from the monotonous pattern of normal life in order to learn about yourself and experience personal growth.
It is commonly said that studying abroad is the most enriching college experience, but sadly due to major requirements or financial issues so many students do not get the opportunity to spend a semester overseas. I have seen many of my friends denied the chance to view life from a different perspective and have a meaningful experience outside of the GW bubble. That is why the Alternative Break Program is so great: it allows students to spend time abroad or in a different community while simultaneously learning from and giving back to the community they are in. If you are unable to go abroad or merely interested in community service at any level, I highly recommend you look into participating in an alternative break. I promise you won’t regret it.
The Extra-Curricular: Phi Sigma Pi National Honors Fraternity
The following post was written by Peer Advisor Lindsey O’Connell, a CCAS sophomore studying Art History and Spanish. Find out more about Lindsey by visiting her Peer Advisor profile page here.
Hey everyone!
First off, here’s hoping that your mid-terms are going well! And if they aren’t, remember that Spring Break is just days away, and the UHP Townhouse has plenty of coffee and tea to get you through in the meantime 🙂 Woo!
For this week’s “Extra-Curricular,” I want to talk about something near and dear to my heart: Phi Sigma Pi National Honors Fraternity (because apparently, I just can’t get enough of that #HonorsLife).
Phi Sigma Pi, or PSP, was founded in 1916 upon the ideals of Scholarship, Leadership, and Fellowship. This gender-inclusive Fraternity uses this “Tripod” of values as a way to guide brothers through our academic, professional, and social lives.
Now, you’ve probably heard of PSP before, right? That is because all UHP students (excluding students in their first or last semesters) should receive semesterly invitations to participate in our rush process. That is, if you don’t assume the email is spam and throw it in your junk mail (which of course I totally did not do). Students must have earned a 3.0 GPA or higher in order to become a brother of PSP–which means UHPers automatically qualify!
Personally, I never imagined myself as someone who would go Greek, and yet since I became a brother in Fall 2015, Phi Sigma Pi has become a cornerstone in my college experience.
As my health took a downwards turn at the beginning of this year, minimizing my participation in my Honors course first semester and restricting me from taking further courses this semester, I found myself sorely missing the sense of community and camaraderie I experienced when I was able to fully immerse myself in UHP activities. While I could not handle the courseload, I still wanted to be around other academically minded, interesting, and just plain awesome people.
For me, becoming a brother of PSP has allowed me to bring the best parts of the UHP–the sense of community, the shared values, the common understanding–into a fun and flexible extra-curricular. Unlike other extra-curricular activities I have previously participated in, Phi Sigma Pi’s focus on scholarship ensures that my academics are never put on the back burner.
Not forgetting about the other parts to the Tripod, PSP’s wide arrange of events and activities for brothers includes museum outings, workshops, movie nights, and more! I have found so many wonderful people through this organization, and I am glad to have had the opportunity to get to know them in such a meaningful capacity.
If you think that Phi Sigma Pi could be a good fit for you, look out for the Fall Rush invitation! And maybe bookmark this page, because if you’re like me, you’ll totally forget by then 🙂
Have an awesome break!!
#HonorsProblems: In Praise of Failure
The following blog post was written by Peer Advisor Eamonn, a heterodoxic sophomore studying philosophy and international affairs. You can find out more about Eamonn here.
In Praise of Failure: Why the Worst is [generally] for the Best
Though we’d universally prefer another contribution to such riveting themes as “The Intern Files”, “Study A-Blog” or “The World of Dressage[1]”, this week’s post is devoted to the proverbially soft and slimy underbelly of our Peer Advisor canon of wisdom: “Honors Problems”. I suppose that’s an awfully derisive characterization. Excepting snake enthusiasts, soft and slimy aren’t generally employed as honorifics[2].
That was a digression. Sorry. Yet I feel it was an illustrative one. Although we emphasize such laudable mantras as “don’t become overextended”, “know when to quit” and “you don’t need to do everything”, we value these words about as much as Ryan Reynolds does the Green Lantern Oath.[3]
At a university which fixates upon success, Honors students are liable to fetishize it[4]. As well we should, the forceful riposte goes. We were originally identified as possessing capacities deemed exceptional, should our current character not be deemed exemplary? To be less than exemplary is to fail. It is to deny the actuality of our vaunted virtues and sink insensibly into the frothing pit of mediocrity beneath us. That sounds awful, hopefully no one really thinks of it in those terms. I’m tempted to invoke Montaigne’s opinion that “all men are ineluctably stupid”, arguing humanity to be inherently fallible. Yet to do would be as indefensible as it distressing[5]. Failure will inevitably occur, but its effects needn’t be invariably detrimental. I could continue to pontificate upon how success conflates our hubris and conceals our still festering flaws. That sounds unbearably sanctimonious though. I think I’ll instead recount for you a period of my life riddled with failure: first semester freshman year.
As I imagined was the case for many of you, I found high school painless and accolades easy to attain. Although repeatedly warned of how onerous college could be, I was unabashedly blithe for the first month of class, spending more time as a tourist than a student. I remained that way until I received the grade for my first paper, a precis composed for an Introductory Philosophy course. Let’s just say the “C+” jaggedly scrawled across the paper was less than desirable. To my credit, I became a markedly more diligent student thereafter. To my dismay, it didn’t make a difference. No matter how I strained myself, I couldn’t eke out more than a B in either Origins or my Intro Philosophy course. These were the classes I enjoyed. For those I didn’t—Microecon foremost—my work was horrendous enough to make a DMV secretary blush.
I’d experienced setbacks before[6].Yet this was something dreadfully new. My talents were inadequate, my perspective was disoriented and my confidence had been thoroughly emasculated[7]. Every new grade I received was another dull blow to my already broken spirit. To compound what was academically unbearable, my social life was fast going awry as well. Acclimation into the mundane but essential responsibilities of independent living was a haphazard process at best[8], none of the clubs I had joined felt particularly rewarding, none of the girls I attempted to talk to particularly liked me[9] and relations with my roommates weren’t particularly comfortable either. Returning home for Thanksgiving break, I couldn’t identify a single moment of unqualified success over the preceding three months. I had, emphatically and unavoidably, failed.
Kidding, though at that point, I very much would have liked to cut my losses. In frankness, I can’t recall any ballast of stability which enabled me to persevere through the semester. My parents were supportive, my professors solicitous and the few friends I had made, caring. Conclusively though, nothing improved. Still no luck in the classroom, still no luck with the ladies. My final grade for microeconomics was so heinous my academic adviser thought I might be compelled to retake it.[10] I hardly crossed the 3.0 threshold for continuance with the Honors Program. These drear recollections aren’t intended as schadenfreude fodder (but if you need that go for it). Rather their purpose is to establish the context for the two qualities I came to find indispensable in rejuvenating myself academically and socially the next semester: humility and courage.
Humility is to recognize the possibility of failure. Courage is to resolutely persevere despite this possibility. My failures didn’t “teach” me this. They reduced me to it. All other considerations were remote or inconceivable. The will to try and the resolve to keep trying was my last elixir. So I took it. Happily, it was all I required. My mishaps didn’t disappear, though as I adjusted to the rigors of university coursework they did dissipate in frequency and magnitude. What truly changed was my response. Rather than treat failure as condemnation for my inadequacy, I approached it as the opportunity for growth. This maxim—often said and rarely followed—is practical only for those who have dismissed failure as a vice. Adopting humility and courage empowered me to deny failure its ferocity. Failure couldn’t hurt me, because failure isn’t final. Humility taught me to accommodate failure, courage taught me to progress from it.
It’s one thing to discourse on elegant, airy abstractions of virtue. How do you go about practicing “humility” and “courage”? Maybe it’s tempting to treat these traits as fatalistic. We can’t control our failures in finality, so why rebuke ourselves as responsible for them? This would be misguided though. The goal isn’t to accept failure. It’s not even to unencumber ourselves of failure’s burden. Failure should sting, it should prod us sharply, it should rouse us from complacently accepting our immediate limitations. In so doing, failure should be part of a constructive process. This process is a reflective one. It consists in candid, comprehensive self-examination, coupling success alongside failure. The former reveals what we’ve mastered, the latter recommends what ought to be mastered next. Brought to fruition this process tells us where we are, where we’d like to be, and how best to get there. As it would be remiss to write for the UHP without invoking the ancients at some point, let me belatedly harken to Socrates. Before he drank the cup and kicked the bucket, the barefoot sage pronounced to his bewildered companions in the Symposium that Love, for all its virtues, was downright hideous. How could it not be? Bereaved of Beauty, Love is compelled to seek it, to exalt it, and most of all, create it. Failure in my mind, relates similarly to success. Who knows, there’s a lot lost in translation[11]
[1] UHP approval of Dressage section currently begrudged, lack of relevance to and expertise among the student body cited. Minor setback, wait until they see the Olympics.
[2] Hail Hydra
[3] “In brightest day/in darkest night/no evil shall escape my sight/let all who worship evil’s might/beware the power of Green Lantern’s light” I’m not bitter, I just would have preferred a better movie
[4] Don’t read into that
[5] Stick to German philosophy, Descartes thought he was a ghost and Voltaire couldn’t distinguish Xenophon from Xenophanes. Cogito Ergo Done with these Amateurs
[6] One time I wasn’t elected National Honor Society president, it was devastating
[7] Don’t read into that either
[8] Apparently red shirts really do bleed into white socks in the wash
[9] Open to advice
[10] Turns out I don’t…I think
[11] For a lucidly articulated account of such discrepancies in Classical scholarship, review Alan Bloom’s translation of The Republic
