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By on May 15, 2014 in Academic Life, Our Stories
Image by Mohamed Iujaz Zuhair, Flickr

Image by Mohamed Iujaz Zuhair, Flickr

Sometimes your best effort just isn’t good enough. You can pour blood, sweat, and tears into something, only to have it fail in the end. If this hasn’t happened to you yet, it’s easy to take the possibility of it for granted: I know I did.

It was a second year philosophy course. I passed, but with a measly final grade of 58 percent. It came as a total shock: I did well on the two assigned essays, and studied every last detail of the material for the exam. Infuriated, I contemplated filing an academic appeal. On the first day of my summer break, I commuted to my school registrar, carrying with me a binder full of my essays and short assignments. When I arrived there, the woman at the front desk informed me that all I could do was email the professor to ask if there had been an error in submitting my grade.

In other words, I could do nothing.

I couldn’t be bothered in wasting my time with such an email (“there was no error, that’s just the grade you got” would have been the response). On my commute back home, I tried to forget about it. And it was then, on that subway train, that I came to a realization. I had always heard about the importance of accepting failure from self-help books and lifestyle magazines, but never fully acknowledged it. Now I had to: I was living it.

From my experience, I learned different ways of coping with failure and how to learn from it. And what I learned, you can as well.

Assess yourself

Being bitter and shifting the blame elsewhere won’t change anything. Thinking that you’re infallible is not only unhealthy, it’s counterproductive. Be introspective: meditate on any possible mistakes you made that hindered your success. I look back and realize that I made four major mistakes in my philosophy course:

  • I came in late to most tutorials (sometimes not at all), with having not read the assigned readings
  • I major in English, so I’m assigned several lengthy novels which take up a lot of my reading time. I reasoned that I didn’t have enough time and only read select readings for the essay assignments
  • I caught up on all the course material in the days shortly leading up to the exam – a foolish mistake
  • As a result, I rarely contributed anything meaningful to tutorial discussions. This took a toll on my final grade as participation in tutorial made up 15% of the final mark

Since then, I have vowed to keep up with all the readings in any given course to the best of my ability. Recognize and correct your mistakes, because unless you do so you’ll just end up repeating them.

Feel good about your effort

Putting a lot of effort into something doesn’t alone guarantee a high grade. In my case, my initial outrage stemmed from putting in so much time and effort into studying for the exam. I soon realized that the amount of effort invested doesn’t mean anything if the final results are unsatisfactory to whoever is grading your work. The same applies even more so to jobs in the real world.

All this said, don’t let it get you down. Failure due to laziness is a legitimate source of shame, but failure in spite of trying hard isn’t. Even geniuses make mistakes. When inventing the light bulb, Thomas Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts until finally succeeding. When asked by a reporter how it felt to fail 1,000 times, Edison replied,

I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.

Don’t look at your failed attempts as efforts wasted in vain: even a wasted effort is an invaluable learning experience.

Learn to study smarter

Reconsider your study habits. If you already work hard, focus on readjusting the ways you study rather than the amount of time you spend studying. It wasn’t that I didn’t study for my exam; I laboriously did so in the two weeks leading up to it. My mistake was that I crammed in the material within that short period of time. Had I studied in small doses over the course of the entire semester, I would have received better results for both my exam and my tutorial mark. No matter how hard you work within a short amount of time, finishing things at the last minute will only cheapen the results.

Halfway through my self-assigned two-week study period, I realized that I had forgotten to check the format for my exam. Once I did, I was shocked to find out that I had wasted time studying course material that wasn’t going to be included on it. Instead of first carefully going over the exam format, I dove straight into studying. As a consequence, I wasted precious time studying material that I wasn’t going to be quizzed on. Don’t just study hard, study smart.

Look forward

After you re-evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, don’t waste any more time dwelling on your failure. Move on by focusing your energy on new work at hand. Not only will this take your mind off of it, it’s also an opportunity to demonstrate that you have learned from your mistakes. So long as you actively avoid the traps that doomed your last effort, concentrating on current work will provide you with results that will more than make up for your previous failure.

Be at peace with liability

Get comfortable with the fact that the possibility of failure will always be there. Be at peace with it, because once you are, you’ll be better prepared for when it strikes again.

My pieces of advice aren’t instructions for foolproof protection against failure; no matter how religiously you follow them, there will always be that lingering chance. Nevertheless, you can still avoid it. School is like a game of cards. No matter how thorough you may think you play, there will always be a chance that you lose the game. But like any skilled player, you can still increase your chances of winning.

By on May 12, 2014 in Academic Life, Our Stories, Wellness
Image by nagzi, Flickr

Image by nagzi, Flickr

Returning to academia after an extended period can be a fairly difficult experience. For one, students do not get paid and that can mean doubling your workload. But whether you have been working or not, enrollment means a drastic change in schedule and a restructuring of your priorities. Yet, this is exactly what I decided to do a few years ago.

Let’s start at the beginning. I studied English in university for two and a half years before I had to drop out. It’s not that I was a poor student; my marks were decent. I dropped out primarily because of mental health issues. This was compounded by the fact that I had come to dislike my area of study as I progressed into upper year courses and the material became more and more focused.

While I dealt with my mental health issues, I found work through a temp agency doing unskilled labour jobs. I spent nearly four years working on and off at these types of jobs. It was very unfulfilling and that was part of my motivation for returning to school. I could not picture myself doing unskilled labour for the rest of my life. I wanted access to something more and a university degree would give me that. Yet, I did not really want to return to university. I feared the crippling debt I would have to incur in order to do so.

But in a choice between mundane work and debt, I chose the option that would enable a brighter future.

When I was healthy enough, I applied to my hometown university and fortunately I got in. University was my job now, and I took it very seriously. But if it was a job, it was one I lacked experience in. I had forgotten basically everything from my previous university experience. It is astounding how much one forgets in four years.

I didn’t remember how to take notes in class, let alone how to approach the first assignment I was faced with: a book review.

I made ample use of my professor’s office hours and the university’s writing centre just to get the basics down. Needless to say, I did not receive a great mark; however, it allowed me to take stock of the areas I needed to improve in. Apparently, I had forgotten the rules of grammar. It was re-learning this basic stuff that was the most difficult thing for me to do. It took many hours talking with professors and teaching assistants, combined with trial and error on my own part to sharpen my diminished skills.

That was the downside. There was considerable upside to returning after a long layoff. With my added years of life experience, my mindset had shifted considerably. I was no longer content to do just enough to get by. Instead, I wanted to put forth my best effort on every assignment. I was more driven to succeed because I was returning to school for a purpose, rather than attending university because it is simply what one does after high school. I wanted to be engaged in my studies rather than merely going through the motions.

This quickly began to show in my grades. I became more willing to seek assistance from my professors and from the university staff. I felt that these resources were there to help me after all and it turns out professors are generally nice people, especially if you are able to show that you have a genuine desire to learn.

I do not regret my decision to return to university for a minute. The monetary cost was high, but the education I have gained has equipped me with a variety of skills I did not have before and thus allowed me to expand my horizons beyond unskilled labour. I think the key to my success was that I took advantage of the resources and opportunities that my university provided. I urge every current student to do the same.

As a returning student, I know I had a lot of questions, so don’t be afraid to ask them. If you don’t know something, find someone who does and figure it out. It makes life at university so much easier. On a final note, depending on your situation, it might be best to ease your way back into school. You have the option to take one or two courses to begin. I took an 80 percent course load, and this helped me not to be overwhelmed by the experience.

By on April 28, 2014 in Academic Life, Our Stories
Image by Steven S., Flickr

Image by Steven S., Flickr

My first year of university was an overwhelming experience. York University’s Keele campus has over 55,000 students, and my faculty alone has 27,000 students. It’s easy to get lost, figuratively and literally, in such a place.

I learned an important lesson during first year that would help me not just in school, but in life in general. As a political science student, it was recommended that I take an introductory macroeconomics class. This class was during my second semester, and I felt like I was settling in well: I had already taken four classes and had no major problems.

However, the wheels started coming off when I started macroeconomics.

The professor had assigned 25% of our final grade to be completed online with three tests. Unfortunately, I had missed the lecture when he let us know this.

Another lesson learned for another time.

Our top two scores from the three tests would count toward our final grade. I missed the first test, and had to bank everything on the second and third. However, when the time came, I could not log into the program used to take the test. I chatted online with the website technical support staff for hours trying to solve my problem, but I never found a solution. I didn’t really pursue it anymore after that – I thought I could still pass even with the wasted 25%.

I ended up not completing any of the online tests, threw away 25% of my final grade – and failed the class.

What did I learn from this? Get help when you need it. I hadn’t experienced any problems before this class, and I was unsure about how to get help. I was intimidated to approach the professor in a class with over 200 students. I was scared, and that cost me financially (I had to repeat the class) and wasted my time.

I really do believe that if I talked to the professor about my problem, he would have worked hard to help me. Professors are there to help their students. Don’t make the same mistake I did of being intimidated by them. First year can be tough for some students, but don’t make it more difficult by putting up barriers. I also should have spoken with the department counselling service to see if there was anything they could do.

I look back on that class and think that I could have passed the first time if I had asked for help when I needed it. I learned my lesson quickly, which prevented similar problems from occurring in the future, and I was able to move on from it and eventually succeed.

I repeated the same class a year later and passed with a solid grade. Now I don’t hesitate to ask questions, seek out help and connect with professors.

By on January 14, 2014 in Our Stories, Programs, Self-Assessment
Image by bpsusf, Flickr

Image by bpsusf, Flickr

In my first two years of university, I was set on finding a job in human resources after graduating. I attended information sessions and noticed that the majority of company representatives there were in HR. I could see myself doing this; touring schools and talking to students about what the company does, interviewing them and deciding who would be a good candidate for our company. Yes. For someone who liked talking to people, teaching people, and giving presentations, it seemed perfect.

Then two things happened:

Thing 1: “You can’t do that right out of university”
I eagerly attended information sessions and job fairs to enquire about any vacancies in the HR department – after all, every company needs HR. With this in mind, I assumed there would be plenty. I talked to accounting firms, who gave me looks like they were thinking, “We’re an accounting firm. We’re hiring accountants…”

No one was hiring for HR. One rep was nice enough to explain to me that their company didn’t hire students to work in HR; they preferred to post internally for those jobs to hire people who’ve worked in the firm and know the company from the inside. Their advice? Get a job in another field first, and move to HR afterwards. Oh. Ok.

Thing 2: The Interview
On a conference executive committee in my fourth year, I met an HR rep from our major sponsor. By this time, I had switched my focus from HR to marketing. From the meetings he attended and recommendations from my peers, he knew I was a hard worker and that I was still on the job hunt, so he brought me in for an interview. He asked what field I wanted a job in, to which I replied, “Marketing.” He said, “We unfortunately don’t have any marketing positions available, but there is an open HR position.” Ok – that was my second choice, and I wasn’t going to be picky about a job prospect. Let’s hear it.

When he explained the job to me, it was not at all what I thought HR would consist of – or at least not the “kind” of HR I wanted.

I’d be posted in a factory, working with 20-30 middle-aged men. They would likely approach me with family issues, illnesses, general complaints, or ask for advances on their salaries. He asked if it’s something I thought I could handle, to which I said, “Yes, of course.” Inside, I squirmed and thought, “But I don’t want to.”

Suffice it to say, and to my relief, he didn’t offer the job to me – we both knew I wouldn’t be a good fit. As stressful as it was, I held out until I could find a job that more closely fit what I wanted. I learned to thoroughly research a position before assuming it’s what I wanted to do. It turns out HR wasn’t right for me after all.

Do you have a similar story? Share it with us on Twitter @StudentsDotOrg or email it to us.

Check out Jenny Lugar’s post on Maclean’s On Campus: How Traveling After Graduation Helped My Career

By on January 13, 2014 in Our Stories, Search Strategies
Image by jdnx, Flickr

Image by jdnx, Flickr

Throughout my business school undergrad, it was drilled into my head that an internship was mandatory if I wanted to get a full-time job right out of school. Marketing students were steered towards large consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies like Kraft, Loreal, and P&G. The goal of every student was to beat out their classmates to score an internship with one of these prestigious companies. I tried – albeit unsuccessfully – to be one of these students in first and second year. I knew by third year I had to get an internship.

I was an average student with a part-time job and some research assistant experience – but I didn’t have enough to make me stand out. As far as employers knew, I wasn’t the cream of the crop.

I didn’t end up with an internship in my third year.

I went into fourth year with no real (read: marketing) work experience. As predicted, my friends with summer internships received full-time offers. They coasted through their final year with confidence that they’d walk into a job the next year as long as they kept their grades up. Those of us without internship experience struggled to apply for any jobs we could find. We’d all start with ones posted by our school’s career centre, and some of us went outside to sites like monster.ca in hopes no one else was looking there (which they obviously were). I started applying to companies I recognized – but only big ones. As the months went by, my stress level increased, and my “ideal job” criteria decreased. I applied to smaller companies I recognized. I researched websites for any companies I could think of and sent them a resume, even if they didn’t say they were hiring. Then I started applying to any job postings I could find that “kind of, sort of” related to marketing, whether I recognized the company or not.

The life-changer for me in my fourth year was obtaining a position on a conference executive team. I was VP Marketing for the year and put my all into it. One of my team members, two years younger than me (and who I likely wouldn’t have met if not for the conference), sent me a vague message near the end of the year saying that a friend of a friend’s cousin was looking to hire a recent marketing grad. I was given a first name and a phone number – no company name or job description. But I called, found out about the company, went in for an interview, and started working full-time just one month later.

Is my company a CPG? No. Does my job make me happy? Yes. Nearly four years later, I can’t imagine working anywhere else.

So, what did I learn from this experience?

  • Don’t just apply for jobs because that’s what your program pushes you towards. Apply for jobs and companies that interest you.
  • Remove your tunnel vision when applying for jobs. You know how much competition there is in the job market. Consider expanding your search criteria.
  • Don’t be afraid to take a chance on a job. It’s your first one. Get that experience on your resume, and if you find it isn’t for you, move on.
  • Make room for extracurriculars in university/college. With some programs, your marks will hold greater importance for employers. In mine, that wasn’t the case. The reason I was hired over another applicant was because I had “marketing experience”. Even though it was a volunteer post for a university conference, it made me stand out.
  • Make connections – not only with people in your class or even your year. Expand your group of contacts. You never know who someone else will know.

Everyone will have a different experience on the job hunt; this is my own. Share your job hunt story with us on Twitter @StudentsDotOrg, or email it to us.

More tips for your job hunt:
A Student’s Guide to Attracting Recruiters on LinkedIn
5 Places to Start Your Internship Search
Do Extracurriculars Add Value to My College Experience?
The Best Time to Work For Free
7 Tips to Make Your Resume Stand Out
Doing Freelance Work to Pay for School