Winning essays from 2023 KAISTian Failure Story Contest
Yunseo Lee (KAIST School of Electrical Engineering)
I think the most important thing is to have courage – the courage to be able to view a failure as something that should just be appreciated as it is. However, simply remaining stationary and staring at the failure will do you no good; a much better approach would be to wholly examine the failure and consider it something to ‘carry with you’ on your journey forward. Even now, my face becomes flush red and my heart starts pounding whenever I am under the spotlight. Anyone who has seen me give speeches will have heard my shaking voice, seen my trembling hands, and noticed my shuffling feet. Nevertheless, I still take the time for self-reflection after such moments to objectively analyze my performance from the audience’s perspective. Once that is done, I move on with my life. I can attest to the fact that I am slowly becoming more confident whenever I speak. This growth started when I decided to accept my failures and carry them along with me.