Disappointed Learning

Exeter has taught everyone lessons, some more than others, but these lessons will be remem- bered, and hopefully learned by all for many years. For me, as I look back at my four years here at Exeter, the most important lesson I learned was that of disappointment: learning to accept it and to move on from that experience.Exeter always tells us that we are all the best of the best and that is very true. Because we are all the best from respective homes, we all expect to be in the top tier even at Exeter. That is such a misguided belief and dream that is crushed early on in our Exeter experience. Yet, we do not all immediately drop out of Exeter because of this. We learn to move on from those dis- appointments, brush off the pain towards our ego, and continue on, still striving for that excel- lence in academics.Academics are not the only place where we learn the harsh reality of disappointment. In our extracurricular activities, from clubs to sports, we also experience that lesson of disappointment. We all have had the experience of being passed over for co-head of a club and captain to the team; others face the ex- perience of not being accepted to the team, either academic or athletic. Whenever we have tryouts for a sport team, a seat in the orchestra, etc., there is always someone who is left out. Yet it is these individuals that always return, to either succeed or fail, they pursue their dreams.

“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” These words from Winston Churchill are words that should be kept close to our hearts in our endeavors. To Exonians, to those of us who are graduating, and those who will graduate in the future, remember to never lose that initial enthusiasm that we had when we applied to and accepted Exeter as our alma mater. When you join a club, a team, or even a class, do not be discouraged by any initial failure to succeed if that activity is your passion. Learn to pick yourself up and to keep marching on.Exeter has been a strict and unforgiving teacher on this les- son for me. In Academics, I have struggled and failed many times in the Classics Department. Yet, I will still graduate with a Clas- sical Diploma. I owe this to my dedicated teachers, Mrs. Morris and Mr. Langford, who helped and pushed me to do better and try harder after every failed quiz, test, and assignment. They pushed me, but I also had to push myself; through my love of the classics, I did just that and I plan to continue studying Latin and Greek while I attend college.The most devastating lesson I learned in disappointment wasthrough my biggest passion: politics. I was in Student Council for 3 years and a term before I finally grew frustrated with the political process. I ran for Secretary and failed. I ran for Vice-President and failed. I was the Co-chair of the Elections Committee before I lost that position also. I was greatly discouraged and it looked that I would not enter the political field as a career. Yet I was still drawn to politics, and while I never held an elected office in Student Council, I was able to work in the office of Senator Dan Coats of Indiana this Spring Term in Washington D.C.: the center of the nation and the center of politics.If I had not learned to pick myself from these setbacks in politics, I probably would not have applied to the program. Yet, I dared to try and to pursue my dream. I have failed and I will probably fail again along the way. I will leave you with a ques- tion to ponder, a question asked by Abraham Lincoln to us all: “My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.”