Finding+Humor

//This is not finding humor in human difference or fallibility but perhaps more the ability to laugh at ourselves, and our own frailty. Think about how you cope when you get an answer wrong in class. Are you able to pick yourself up after a bad grade and deal with it reasonably?//
 * Finding Humor**

The way a person reacts when things don't go according to plan says a lot about that person. In the past, I have often been upset over unsatisfactory test grades, project grades, and so on. However, as the years have gone by, and especially this year, I've slowly learned and realized that, instead of wasting time being upset over a grade, I should instead focus on acknowledging what I did wrong, and to make sure that I don't make the same mistakes in the future.

Though it has happened many times throughout this year, one time in particular that comes to mind when I didn't do as well as expected, was when I got a C on my Acids and Bases topic test. On the day of the test, I felt prepared, and even after the test, I walked out of the room feeling fairly confident. With this being said, I was obviously surprised when I got my test back and saw that I actually got a lot of the questions wrong. Though I was disappointed in myself, when I looked through my test, I realized that I really only made one careless error, that ended up costing me a lot of points.

A great portion of the test involved questions that asked about calculating the pH of solutions resulting from when some substance is dissolved in water. The equation n=cv was needed a lot, however I carelessly used the incorrect equation, n=c/v, instead of n=cv. Because my equation was incorrect, I answered all of the questions that involved that equation (which was 3 or 4 multi part questions!) incorrectly. I used the wrong equation either because I memorized it incorrectly, or I just made a careless mistake when writing it down on the test, and then used the same incorrect equation for other questions as well. After realizing how silly this mistake was, I practiced more questions similar to the ones on the test, to make sure that I would always remember the correct equation from then on.



A few days later, I took the retake test for the Acids and Bases unit that Ms. Knowles offered for students to take if they were unsatisfied with their grade. Because I learned from my past mistakes on the first test, I got 100% on the retake.

In the end, I was happy with my test grade, and I also enhanced my understanding of an important lesson. Though I always knew the importance of learning from my mistakes, this example truly demonstrates the importance of understanding what you did wrong, so that you don't repeat the same errors in the future.

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