Sometimes you have to fail to succeed
Discussion
Without going into too much detail, my first attempt at university didn’t go well and I got kicked out. I was pretty depressed at the time. I worked for a while then spent almost a year traveling and working abroad. When I returned to the UK I met my future wife, went back to university, did well and got a professional career.
Many years later I was at a Christmas lunch at my then employer. One of the junior accountants came up to me and asked whether I had studied X at Y university. Turns out they were on the same course as me (the one I failed). I didn’t recognise them or their name. Seems that he had managed to get through the course but hadn’t done that well and it hadn’t led to a great career.
Made me wonder what would have happened to me, had I somehow got through the first degree I tried. I somehow doubt I would have had the same, successful career. I wouldn’t have got together with my wife either. Ironically, in hindsight, failing at university was probably the best thing that could have happened to me!
Many years later I was at a Christmas lunch at my then employer. One of the junior accountants came up to me and asked whether I had studied X at Y university. Turns out they were on the same course as me (the one I failed). I didn’t recognise them or their name. Seems that he had managed to get through the course but hadn’t done that well and it hadn’t led to a great career.
Made me wonder what would have happened to me, had I somehow got through the first degree I tried. I somehow doubt I would have had the same, successful career. I wouldn’t have got together with my wife either. Ironically, in hindsight, failing at university was probably the best thing that could have happened to me!
Esceptico said:
Without going into too much detail, my first attempt at university didn’t go well and I got kicked out. I was pretty depressed at the time. I worked for a while then spent almost a year traveling and working abroad. When I returned to the UK I met my future wife, went back to university, did well and got a professional career.
Many years later I was at a Christmas lunch at my then employer. One of the junior accountants came up to me and asked whether I had studied X at Y university. Turns out they were on the same course as me (the one I failed). I didn’t recognise them or their name. Seems that he had managed to get through the course but hadn’t done that well and it hadn’t led to a great career.
Made me wonder what would have happened to me, had I somehow got through the first degree I tried. I somehow doubt I would have had the same, successful career. I wouldn’t have got together with my wife either. Ironically, in hindsight, failing at university was probably the best thing that could have happened to me!
OrMany years later I was at a Christmas lunch at my then employer. One of the junior accountants came up to me and asked whether I had studied X at Y university. Turns out they were on the same course as me (the one I failed). I didn’t recognise them or their name. Seems that he had managed to get through the course but hadn’t done that well and it hadn’t led to a great career.
Made me wonder what would have happened to me, had I somehow got through the first degree I tried. I somehow doubt I would have had the same, successful career. I wouldn’t have got together with my wife either. Ironically, in hindsight, failing at university was probably the best thing that could have happened to me!
You might have done much better, been much happier and had a much prettier wife.
GliderRider said:
One of my college lecturers said that all students should go and work in McDonalds full-time for a couple of years before starting college. That way they would know what they don't want to do with the rest of their lives, and would work a bit harder when they did go to study.
Or to put it another way, University is wasted.....on the young....I went to a Polytechnic.
Similarly, I successfully got into university, didn't attend and worked in hospitality and car sales for many years. Went back to university in September to do...
the same course I got on originally. Weird how that works. Feel more prepared having worked full time for 13 years, though.
the same course I got on originally. Weird how that works. Feel more prepared having worked full time for 13 years, though.
Mr Pontin, of Pontin's holiday camps, started up his business as being illiterate, no one would employ him. The final straw was not getting a job as a council toilet cleaner.
Many years later, millionaire Pontin was asked "you've achieved all this when you couldn't read or write. Do you ever wonder what you might have done had you been able to?" And he replied "I would have been a toilet cleaner."
Many years later, millionaire Pontin was asked "you've achieved all this when you couldn't read or write. Do you ever wonder what you might have done had you been able to?" And he replied "I would have been a toilet cleaner."
PH User said:
That's a rather sweeping statement, it's like saying that fat people are bubbly and happy!
Not really. It is stating the obvious that how nice, kind and good a person is, is not related to how they look. Good people can be pretty or ugly. Same for ugly people too. Attractive people do have it easier in life. Possibly at risk of becoming vain and egotistical owing to how they are treated.
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