Personal Narrative: Defeat Is Not The True Failure

George Edward Woodberry, an American poet, once said, “Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.” This quote greatly relates to the obstacles one faces, but ceasing to give up and continuing to persevere through the storm will make it all worthwhile. I connected to this personally through plenty of my years in school, and one example was the debate team. The club was a challenging storm of countless defeats, yet I carried on, later benefitting from it and gaining the skills I needed that still apply to my daily lifestyle to this day. Debate was the ocean and I was the paddler who worked fiercely to make it to land. The thought of college has been set in my mind from a young age. I wanted to expand my horizons and try clubs and activities that were out of my comfort range, thus my …show more content…
I equipped several skills I have been able to utilize in my daily life. Debate vastly improved my public speaking. I’m now able to make eye contact with whom I am speaking to and learned to articulate my words better, which led me to write an inspirational speech and read it aloud to my classmates for our eighth grade promotion. It helped me with quicker thinking and problem solving, features that still help me in high school. In addition, the words of wisdom and encouragement given to me by my debate coach, Mrs. Ferris, and my teammates were lessons that I can possibly never forget, even at old age. Seventh and eighth grade me stood on the verge of quitting the team almost everyday, but my teammates and my coach prevented it from happening. Without their support and love, I would not be as experienced and intelligent as I am today because I learned to hone my skills overtime with practice and help. My self-confidence expanded and I was able to face my battles. No matter the amount of setbacks in my growth, the pros definitely outweighed the