Celebrating Failure

Something I failed at this past semester was securing a job interview following career fair this past Fall semester. I had set this task as one of my goals during my Agricultural Marketing and Management course where I was assigned to come up with a cohesive SMART goal. Having switched into Food and Resource Economics as a senior, I didn’t know exactly what career I wanted to pursue with my major or how to work towards it. I approached several company representative, often relating to real estate or finance and I felt uncomfortable and unprepared even though I had spent hours researching what these companies offer. I felt truly like a fish out of water and I felt dejected after not securing a proper interview for an internship or even a networking connection.

                What I learned from this experience was to value my self-worth and effort to try. I came into Career Fair having no idea what to say or do to relate myself to those employers (my previous major was Mechanical Engineering) and I tried the best I could. I was able to use a more personal approach to get to know those representatives and I felt as if I had decent conversations despite not being able to keep up with technical knowledge and lingo. The experience was also a bit of a reality check that showed me that there’s more to just personal skills and communication that contribute to company representatives knowing your worth. The experience made me value the education and major-intensive courses that I am participating in and excites me for a future that I have a new challenge to achieve.

                While dealing with failure, I’ll admit that for a little while after I tend to feel dejected and lost. I question whether or not I should continue with other ordeals in the fear that I will “mess those up too”. However, after this initial response I often desire to try something new that is fun and excites me. I’ve always been a fan of taking on new challenges and handling things that others may not initially thinking of myself as completing. This class has taught me a lot about failure. It’s hard to secure interviews with people and to find those that fit your market segment; but it was a rewarding challenge that allowed me to use my interpersonal communication and speaking skills that I wanted to enhance.