26A- Celebrating Failure

Earlier this semester I failed when searching for internships. I must have pushed them off too late or had been applying to the wrong ones because up until this month, I was afraid I wouldn’t have one at all for the summer. I tried applying to a few different type of internships and in different areas as well. I began to get desperate and anxious once I heard all of my peers were starting their interview process or even accepting offers. Some of the places I applied to said they were full by the time I had applied. Other places decided to cancel the internship all together. Some just flat out didn’t reply to my applications. After speaking with advisors and friends, I was told to start applying through the UF Career Resources Center. After my first application sent through UF, I was interviewed and offered the internship. I learned that I need to be more proactive with such things that require interacting with other people. There are some things you can push off that only require your own effort; but when you push things off that require other’s efforts, things may go wrong. This is because not everyone operates on the same timeline and schedule as each other. I think that failure is scary. I think that is a natural feeling that almost everyone feels. The difference is that some people are more acceptable with certain levels of failure than others. When I fail, I have to sometimes numb myself to the pain and then hopefully I can determine whether I did something wrong or if risk just took it’s course. I think it’s important to understand what you have to lose with each possible failure, the odds, and the period of time that the failure will affect you. While over time I am better able to judge the risk of things and the repercussions of a potential failure, I do not think I am more likely to take higher risks than I was before. I think risk taking has to do with personality traits, which are difficult to alter.