When Professor Danner asked us to take up a task which we are likely to fail at and then write about it, only one thing came to my mind – getting on the Squash Varsity Team. Before I detail what I learned during my rather arduous journey, I’d like to give some background on my abilities in this game and why this was an appropriate choice for this particular assignment.
I started playing squash when I was ten years old. This is actually a few years earlier than when most people, who go on to become professionals, start playing the game. Within a few months I become considerably good at the game (in my coach’s opinion) and started enjoying it so much that I was sure that this was what I wanted to play for the rest of my life. After playing …show more content…
We had had only one practice before I decided that I wanted to be part of the Varsity Team, and I am sure that the captains knew from then itself that I was not good enough to be part of the Varsity Team. A part of me feared asking them if I could try for the team, as I thought they might judge me or mock me. Yet I had to overcome this fear and believe in myself and my abilities. This also made me realize that to make others believe in you, you have to first believe in yourself. So I went up to the captains and asked them, “I am not a recruited athelete, but is it possible for me to try and be part of the Varsity Team?” They simply replied by saying that if they thought I was good enough, they would refer me to the Varsity Captains after which I could go for formal try-outs. They also told me that such an attempt had been successful only once before. Now this statement could have discouraged me, but it actually gave me a lot of hope. This is because I had considered what I was trying to do something no one would have thought of attempting before. The fact that someone had actually been successful in doing so made my belief in my goal significantly …show more content…
And interestingly, this can go either way. Set your expectations too high, and you are more likely to fail, or atleast, be disappointed (Note that Professor Danner in his book specifically defines failure in relation to things that matter, which is linked to my idea of expectations). On the other hand, setting your expecations too low will prevent you from challenging yourself and exploring your own potential. For the purposes of this failure foray, I think I set my expectations at an appropriate level. Going into this challenge, I knew that what I aimed to do was incredibly difficult, but I did not let that discourage me and prevent me from working honestly and loyally towards my goal. There were times that I felt that there was no point continuing with this challenge because I knew I wouldn’t succeed, but I still kept going. That, I feel, is a valuable lesson I have taken from this challenge which I am sure to apply to everything I do henceforth. Just like a security system is only as strong as its weakest link, our potential is tested the most at times when we feel the
I started playing squash when I was ten years old. This is actually a few years earlier than when most people, who go on to become professionals, start playing the game. Within a few months I become considerably good at the game (in my coach’s opinion) and started enjoying it so much that I was sure that this was what I wanted to play for the rest of my life. After playing …show more content…
We had had only one practice before I decided that I wanted to be part of the Varsity Team, and I am sure that the captains knew from then itself that I was not good enough to be part of the Varsity Team. A part of me feared asking them if I could try for the team, as I thought they might judge me or mock me. Yet I had to overcome this fear and believe in myself and my abilities. This also made me realize that to make others believe in you, you have to first believe in yourself. So I went up to the captains and asked them, “I am not a recruited athelete, but is it possible for me to try and be part of the Varsity Team?” They simply replied by saying that if they thought I was good enough, they would refer me to the Varsity Captains after which I could go for formal try-outs. They also told me that such an attempt had been successful only once before. Now this statement could have discouraged me, but it actually gave me a lot of hope. This is because I had considered what I was trying to do something no one would have thought of attempting before. The fact that someone had actually been successful in doing so made my belief in my goal significantly …show more content…
And interestingly, this can go either way. Set your expectations too high, and you are more likely to fail, or atleast, be disappointed (Note that Professor Danner in his book specifically defines failure in relation to things that matter, which is linked to my idea of expectations). On the other hand, setting your expecations too low will prevent you from challenging yourself and exploring your own potential. For the purposes of this failure foray, I think I set my expectations at an appropriate level. Going into this challenge, I knew that what I aimed to do was incredibly difficult, but I did not let that discourage me and prevent me from working honestly and loyally towards my goal. There were times that I felt that there was no point continuing with this challenge because I knew I wouldn’t succeed, but I still kept going. That, I feel, is a valuable lesson I have taken from this challenge which I am sure to apply to everything I do henceforth. Just like a security system is only as strong as its weakest link, our potential is tested the most at times when we feel the