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How a C-Minus Helped Me Build Resilience
My relationship with failure is punctuated by several key events, some of which feel as fresh as the day they happened.
I started university at the age of 16, young by most standards, but I felt academically ready. Heck, my grades suggested that I was ready and the fact that I got a partial scholarship to the University of Richmond seemed to validate the idea.
The fact is, I was cocky. I was accustomed to doing well in school all my life and while this was a significant jump from my academic experience in The Bahamas, I fully expected to do well. It wasn’t even a question for me, really.
All of the validation I’d received over the years gave me the confidence to walk onto the campus of a centuries-old private university, thinking that I’d be practically invincible.
I was what you’d call a semi-serious student. I intended to make an effort in the subjects that mattered most to me: Finance and Business. Everything else would receive the minimum amount of effort to do well (I still had my own reputation to uphold).
Introduction to Business: I sat upfront and read the required materials before class. Microeconomics: fascinating, it had my full attention.
