In the article “In Praise of the F Word,” Mary Sherry teaches basic grammar and writing in a night class for high-school graduates and high-school dropouts, who are intent on pursuing graduate equivalent certificates for skills that should have been learned while in high school. She also speaks about how many of her students were involved in activities that they felt should have been stopped by someone and not themselves. Why has it become so easy for students to slide by in school? Today, some students are being cheated by the educational system, leading them to be unprepared for the real world expectations. I have failed a grade in Note-Taking class. I got an “F” grade on the test. I was scary and sad about that. It was an experience that I would never forget. I have been living in Boston for 3 years. In the US, I had to speak English as my second languages. So I went to school to take English as Second Language class. Writing, Reading was fine for me because I could use the dictionary to look up meaning of the words. In Note-Taking class was a nightmare for me, my listening skill is quiet bad, I couldn’t get the word from the speaker, I couldn’t use the dictionary on this. So taking-note was really hard for me. I really scared the test in class because I had to listen to the people speaking from the radio to take the note, people spoke really fast. I tried my best on the test but didn’t finish it well. Finally, I got an “F” on it. I was sad because it was unfair. I was a new student and English wasn’t my main language, the professor did not give me any chance to take it again. I was tressed out on Note-Taking until the en of the semester. I am afraid of failure, it makes me feel bad about myself when I do fail. My parents get mad at me as well when I fail. I remember how bad I felt when I assigned my first F. The night before I turned in my grades, I could barely sleep; I kept tossing and turning, I thought this failure was going to ruin my future. In my opinion, failure can be a good and bad thing though. Sometimes when people fail it makes them realize very important things, but sometimes failure can lead to negative effects on people who have low self esteems. Although I know my Note-Taking class is unfair, I had to take responsibility when I failed. When I am skating and I don’t nail a trick I keep working until I get it. I realize what i need to do and I do it. I take ownership for my actions. In conlusion, Failure is a part of human life. Failure is important part of winning. Everyone will fail at at least one thing in their life. When you fail it makes you want to win that much more, and that determination is what I get out of failure. I have failed at a lot of things throughout my life but one of the things I learn from each failure is that I never give up, just keep trying.
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