The funny thing about college is that it really is so much different than high school. Generally, kids in high school tend to vary in terms of how they deal with their academics -- but once they're in college, they tend to share similar qualities on this subject. Alongside this new competition comes a different style of teaching and a new environment, and the way that each student can tell how they're adjusting to this lifestyle is through their very first exam. For me, it was my midterm.

For the past month, I felt like it was smooth sailing with all of my classes. I did have a few assignments here and there, but I never really thought about how I was actually doing in each class until I took my very first midterm for math. As the days went by and the date of the midterm got closer, I did little to nothing to prepare for the exam. It didn't occur to me how little I studied until the day of, and so I decided to skip all of my classes that day to prepare a study guide for myself and overall get ready for what was to come. I was used to working like this: half-assing all of my work and studying the day of, because things came easy to me and I knew that putting in half of my effort was usually good enough to score me a high grade for practically anything. So I went into the exam feeling confident, and even left early because I breezed through it like it was no big deal. The grades came out, and it did not reflect the attitude I had about my first midterm.

21/40. Barely above a 50%. With the curve, it was barely passing. I couldn't believe how poorly I did. I went over all of my questions to see what I did wrong, and most of it was just simple errors in calculations. I understood the concepts, but it was clear to me that that wasn't enough.

I was confused. Shocked. Devastated. I ultimately felt like I was screwed for life and that I didn't deserve to be at the university. However, I was lucky enough to have a mentor explain to me what your grade in your first exam meant. For me, it meant that I had to end my half-assed, little effort study habit and get it together. College is not high school; everything is more advanced and faster paced. As a young adult, I had to simply own up to my failure and learn from it. The great thing about the first exam is that it really tells you where you're at in that class, and you can take it from there.

Failing my first midterm exam taught me that there's only so much you can do when you're not living up to your potential. I set aside more time to do homework and used the free time in my schedule to focus more on my math class. I've put in a lot more effort into really grasping the concepts of each chapter and practicing them in order to fully understand what I'm learning; and needless to say, it really has been more beneficial in my life than my previous work ethic. Not only has my sleep schedule improved, but I feel less stressed about the class and more motivated to stay on top of my game.

Sometimes, you need to take a failure to move on and better yourself for the future. Learning from your mistakes can really take you places, so don't worry if you've just bombed an important exam. Access where you're at and take it from there.