Physics is Hard

Here we are, almost at Christmas, and semester one is already done. We've made it through our first classes, first midterms, first exams, and first time getting marks back and it has already been the best time of my life. There have been many ups and downs but that is where the fun in life is. For us kids trying to make it in the tough world that is undergraduate physics, some things were definitely an eye opener.

Today was the day I got my mark in my first physics class, the last mark I received. My early marks were good, all my other classes I am very proud of, but physics was a shock. Throughout the semester even marks in physics were promising. I thought things were going well. I was wrong. Before the exam our professor said our class average was too high. At this point we knew something bad was about to happen.

When we proceeded to take the exam, everyone had the same uneasy feeling and when we finished it was even worse. It was certainly the hardest exam I have ever written and I think many of my classmates felt the same way. When I got my mark back today, my fears were confirmed. Its tough to get bad marks when you know they're coming, well its tough anytime but especially then. However there is something priceless about getting bad marks, and it is the entire reason we go to university; learning.

The marks are all in the past, there is nothing we can do to go back and change them. But there is always something you can take away from them. Maybe its something in how I studied, maybe I was distracted about leaving for the holidays and being so close to finished. Whatever happened, its already happened and there is no way to change it. But you can always learn from what happened and make sure it never happens again, and that is what I hope to do from this experience.

The thing about experiences is that there is always something to learn from them. You need to make sure you take everything you possibly can from an experience while its happening and while you're reflecting, but once its gone you need to leave it where it is, in the past. This is the entire point of living, to learn from your mistakes. Mistakes are the entire fun of life. If you went through you're entire life perfect it would be excruciatingly boring. So enjoy your mistakes, learn from them, and then go make the next one.