Charlie Pakluck, Campus Carrier photographer

“Learn from your mistakes” is a phrase that everyone has heard at least once before. We make mistakes so we can learn what not to do, or how not to handle something. While this is one of the most common phrases to hear, learning from your mistakes is not the most important part of making them.

Everyone will make mistakes and that isn’t bad. Mistakes are references for the future. For example, if you drop your phone on the floor in a rush, you won’t be able to find it later. Now you know to put your phone in a visible, memorable place. You learned from the mistake, but did you forgive yourself for it?

As a communication major, science is not my forte. Unfortunately, though, I ended up taking chemistry this semester. Needless to say, it is not going well. I don’t understand half of the content and almost immediately earned myself a failing grade. As soon as that class grade dropped, so did all my quiz grades. Alongside my failing grades, my confidence was thrown to the ground with no way to get back up.

The last time I failed a class was physics in high school, another science class that I simply could not wrap my mind around. I put in full effort and eventually got up to a barely passing grade, but that class wiped out my self-esteem in science. I left high school physics thinking I was incapable of doing well in science. I never forgave myself for the mistake of not getting more help in that class. Going into chemistry, my subconscious told me I was going to fail. So, when I did fail, I didn’t bother trying. 

I did the calculations and learned that I had to pass the class. Still, I failed another quiz, but instead of listening to the voice telling me I should give up, I took time to reflect. I know I am capable if I truly try, but to try, I had to forgive myself. I reminded myself that everyone has subjects they struggle with, that my professor won’t think I’m stupid for not understanding, and I gave myself forgiveness. This forgiveness led me to office hours and I passed the quiz with an B and raised my grade to a seventy.

Learning from my mistakes was a huge help in getting to passing, but I had to first forgive myself for them before I could learn. Forgiveness is one of the most valuable traits we have as humans. You would forgive a friend for their mistakes, so why not forgive yourself too? Learning from our mistakes is great, but forgiving ourselves for them is even more important.