everyone fails it’s a part of being
human no matter how good we might be how
smart or how perfect we seem we fail
sometimes pretty epically but let me
tell you a story about why failure isn’t
necessarily a bad thing my story starts
with college Honor applications most
colleges have an essay with variations
of this question what is your biggest
failure as of right now my biggest
failure was not getting into Stanford
University I know what you’re probably
thinking that’s not really a failure is
it but to me it was like the ground
dropped out from beneath my feet when I
read my rejection letter Stanford had
seemed like the perfect school for me I
saw how excited my sister was when she
went for admin tweakin in 2014 and I
thought that I could be just as happy as
she was there Stanford became my dream
school I thought constantly about how
wonderful it would be to get in I even
prayed for it and we know how that story
ends what you don’t know was how on the
day decisions were emailed out a friend
of mine ran up the hill and told me my
fate would be determined what you don’t
know was that throughout the entire day
my mind was numb and my arse were
shaking with dread and fear and
excitement I couldn’t think couldn’t
focus on anything but the email sitting
innocently in my inbox just screaming at
me to open it I kept running through
endless possibilities in my head I
pictured celebrating with my parents
crying tears of joy at the same time I
also saw myself on the streets in some
unknown City holding a collection soon I
cried for about half an hour after I saw
the letter that I got and went to go
study for my finals everyone thought I
was dealing with it well myself included
but soon it became clear that I was not
in fact handling it well I started
applying to other schools like Harvard
and Columbia because why not try for
them and yet I couldn’t help but think
that maybe I was aiming too high maybe
this was all just a waste of time and
money
maybe I my essays would have been
perfect if I’d rewritten that one
sentence maybe if I’d applied Regular
Decision
I would have gotten in maybe maybe I
just wasn’t as good as people believed
because I thought I’d tried my best
after all I wanted it so badly but what
if my best just wasn’t good enough one
reason why the rejection was so
crippling to me was because I was
looking too closely at it I kept
thinking that Stanford had rejected me
because I wasn’t up to their standard
that it was entirely my fault I hadn’t
gotten in but as many wise people told
me colleges don’t necessarily pick the
best people they choose the people they
think will strengthen their community
people who will help improve the school
maybe I would have been really happy at
Stanford maybe I would have been
absolutely miserable
but in the end it really is just down to
luck and what the school is looking for
even knowing this I don’t think I would
have recovered as quickly as I did if I
hadn’t had my amazing friends and family
to help me through it they comforted me
and one of my darkest times helping me
understand that this failure didn’t
define me and that I was loved friends
who were in college talked to me about
their own rejections from their dream
schools and helped me realize that life
has a way of working out for the better
all of my loved ones nudged me towards
the realization that my worth goes
beyond what I accomplished and where I
go to school but is instead Who I am at
my very core it took me a while to
realize that it is not our failures that
define us but what we take from them how
you decide to recover from a mistake
even one as small as perhaps biting into
crunchy pasta is far more important and
applying through other colleges I
explored all aspects of my psyche
leading to a better understanding of me
as a person I was forced to confront
myself to delve into how I could make a
difference in a larger community what
could I really bring to the table how
were my ideas worthwhile and this way
the college application was not helping
me regain my self-confidence assuring me
that I did have something to offer but
when you do fail as everyone does at
some point you just have to get right
back up and do the best you can a good
friend used to tell me life is always
beyond your control and you know what
he’s right nobody can control their life
you can’t predict how things will go so
stop blaming yourself
stand up tall keep your chin up and
remember that you are beautiful as you
are try your hardest and do your best
because that will always be good enough
take a deep breath and remember that
life isn’t over just yet
one failures happen find another goal to
work towards so keep trying keep
dreaming and keep failing because you
never know what you’ll learn I’d like to
finish with a poem that I wrote for an
English assignment emerging from that
cave like I was in a dream my mind is
like curly fries can’t differentiate the
in-between they say you are what you eat
nowadays but I’m not an apple of the
earth at 91 degrees and I’m being
lowered into this vat of spitting hot
oil six of us sit at the table having
simultaneous breakdowns break frowns
until after laced with nerves people
like us are expected to be the fives of
the world but how can we if I only feel
like a one how can we be in this world
of two-dimensional black and white
inherited by yearning youths coughing up
coffee all of us struggling going for
the Stanford standard because I’m a
genius the scholar who don’t got time
for a gentleman caller and I’m staring
down at this hot potato if I don’t get
it I don’t get off the sinking volcano
lava will swallow me up and sharks will
eat my bones
water is essential so make sure to
hydrate but my life is ended by just one
carbohydrate motivation is dropping like
that exponential decay bullets coming at
me I can’t get out of the way our minds
are filled with these edible tubers I
saw why some stars in the sky become
shooters this is potato heads laughing
at me at us at you but remember all she
is is just one little potato thank you
[Applause]
human no matter how good we might be how
smart or how perfect we seem we fail
sometimes pretty epically but let me
tell you a story about why failure isn’t
necessarily a bad thing my story starts
with college Honor applications most
colleges have an essay with variations
of this question what is your biggest
failure as of right now my biggest
failure was not getting into Stanford
University I know what you’re probably
thinking that’s not really a failure is
it but to me it was like the ground
dropped out from beneath my feet when I
read my rejection letter Stanford had
seemed like the perfect school for me I
saw how excited my sister was when she
went for admin tweakin in 2014 and I
thought that I could be just as happy as
she was there Stanford became my dream
school I thought constantly about how
wonderful it would be to get in I even
prayed for it and we know how that story
ends what you don’t know was how on the
day decisions were emailed out a friend
of mine ran up the hill and told me my
fate would be determined what you don’t
know was that throughout the entire day
my mind was numb and my arse were
shaking with dread and fear and
excitement I couldn’t think couldn’t
focus on anything but the email sitting
innocently in my inbox just screaming at
me to open it I kept running through
endless possibilities in my head I
pictured celebrating with my parents
crying tears of joy at the same time I
also saw myself on the streets in some
unknown City holding a collection soon I
cried for about half an hour after I saw
the letter that I got and went to go
study for my finals everyone thought I
was dealing with it well myself included
but soon it became clear that I was not
in fact handling it well I started
applying to other schools like Harvard
and Columbia because why not try for
them and yet I couldn’t help but think
that maybe I was aiming too high maybe
this was all just a waste of time and
money
maybe I my essays would have been
perfect if I’d rewritten that one
sentence maybe if I’d applied Regular
Decision
I would have gotten in maybe maybe I
just wasn’t as good as people believed
because I thought I’d tried my best
after all I wanted it so badly but what
if my best just wasn’t good enough one
reason why the rejection was so
crippling to me was because I was
looking too closely at it I kept
thinking that Stanford had rejected me
because I wasn’t up to their standard
that it was entirely my fault I hadn’t
gotten in but as many wise people told
me colleges don’t necessarily pick the
best people they choose the people they
think will strengthen their community
people who will help improve the school
maybe I would have been really happy at
Stanford maybe I would have been
absolutely miserable
but in the end it really is just down to
luck and what the school is looking for
even knowing this I don’t think I would
have recovered as quickly as I did if I
hadn’t had my amazing friends and family
to help me through it they comforted me
and one of my darkest times helping me
understand that this failure didn’t
define me and that I was loved friends
who were in college talked to me about
their own rejections from their dream
schools and helped me realize that life
has a way of working out for the better
all of my loved ones nudged me towards
the realization that my worth goes
beyond what I accomplished and where I
go to school but is instead Who I am at
my very core it took me a while to
realize that it is not our failures that
define us but what we take from them how
you decide to recover from a mistake
even one as small as perhaps biting into
crunchy pasta is far more important and
applying through other colleges I
explored all aspects of my psyche
leading to a better understanding of me
as a person I was forced to confront
myself to delve into how I could make a
difference in a larger community what
could I really bring to the table how
were my ideas worthwhile and this way
the college application was not helping
me regain my self-confidence assuring me
that I did have something to offer but
when you do fail as everyone does at
some point you just have to get right
back up and do the best you can a good
friend used to tell me life is always
beyond your control and you know what
he’s right nobody can control their life
you can’t predict how things will go so
stop blaming yourself
stand up tall keep your chin up and
remember that you are beautiful as you
are try your hardest and do your best
because that will always be good enough
take a deep breath and remember that
life isn’t over just yet
one failures happen find another goal to
work towards so keep trying keep
dreaming and keep failing because you
never know what you’ll learn I’d like to
finish with a poem that I wrote for an
English assignment emerging from that
cave like I was in a dream my mind is
like curly fries can’t differentiate the
in-between they say you are what you eat
nowadays but I’m not an apple of the
earth at 91 degrees and I’m being
lowered into this vat of spitting hot
oil six of us sit at the table having
simultaneous breakdowns break frowns
until after laced with nerves people
like us are expected to be the fives of
the world but how can we if I only feel
like a one how can we be in this world
of two-dimensional black and white
inherited by yearning youths coughing up
coffee all of us struggling going for
the Stanford standard because I’m a
genius the scholar who don’t got time
for a gentleman caller and I’m staring
down at this hot potato if I don’t get
it I don’t get off the sinking volcano
lava will swallow me up and sharks will
eat my bones
water is essential so make sure to
hydrate but my life is ended by just one
carbohydrate motivation is dropping like
that exponential decay bullets coming at
me I can’t get out of the way our minds
are filled with these edible tubers I
saw why some stars in the sky become
shooters this is potato heads laughing
at me at us at you but remember all she
is is just one little potato thank you
[Applause]
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