Patience in navigating failure and growth

Many of us know that we will gain knowledge over the years at college.

We will study, work in groups, and find travel to faraway places in unexpected ways. We fully expect to know “more” when we leave campus. However, as we encounter our first assignments and tests of the semester, we often struggle to embrace the process of learning rather than knowing. And if we struggle on those early measures of knowledge, we may insult ourselves by saying we are “stupid”, lamenting “if I only had a brain”. But I caution you to hold such criticisms… as you have read before, growth is often painful.

One of the most difficult realities of learning is that we are destined to learn more following mistakes, errors, challenge, and failure than we are following success. But we are naturally averse to failure. And when it comes to school, failure feels as if it means failure forever… no more career, family, independence, or life beyond. And it can be difficult to see beyond that fear in order to choose a different road than you had previously followed. The reminder I wish to offer you is that all roads WILL lead to Oz, perhaps following a different route than you originally planned. You might need friends to put you back together again or rescue you from the loneliness of despair and doubt.

In order to build knowledge, we must use the tools that we have around us and that research has revealed to be helpful: mnemonics, repetition, memory-cues, and asking for help, to name a few. Mnemonics are strategies that assist in remembering and accessing previously-learned information (think ROY G BIV or “i before e except after c”). Repetition is the continual return to information to gain familiarity with the answer or topic (think flash cards). Memorycues help you to connect information to other information you already have learned in order to create an association. Finally, utilizing others (professors, friends, TAs) for support in the process of learning the topic/information can ease the pain of learning. Check out the Study for additional support and skill building around learning!

You are likely to face frustration as you learn here at college. College is, after all, hard. You are gaining knowledge about a broad range of topics you expected to learn about, some you didn’t, and many that you couldn’t have anticipated (especially about yourself). But these frustrations will likely take more than a bucket of water to eliminate. You may need all of your courage and heart to confront these fears and frustrations in order to be patient, ask for help, and update your route to rediscover your home by building the knowledge you need for success.

You have a wealth of resources here at CSB+SJU to support your growth and learning! If you have questions or are curious about how to get started, take a peek behind the curtain at the Well-Being Center’s Open House at CSB on September 25!