Essay about Can Failure Strengthen A Person?

Failure is like the taste of dark chocolate.  It's a bitter feeling to think that one put in all their effort into something yet still fails. Failure, though, strengthens a person because it pushes them to work harder and it redirects them. 

To begin, failure strengthens a person because it pushes them to work harder. Failure becomes incitement to strive to achieve one's goals with greater determination. For example, Elizabeth Harmon, a fifteen-year-old chess prodigy, lived most of her teenage years winning until Vasily Borgov, a Russian chess master and prodigy, crossed paths with her. She had never played against someone who knew with such certainty that they would win, and it made her feel as if she failed at the only thing that mattered to her. Elizabeth's loss against Borgov, at first, made her angry but it also made her determined to wipe that certainty he had off his face , so she began analyzing what mistakes she made throughout the game, reading Borgovs books and plays, playing out chess openings and endings, and playing out different chess techniques. She continued this over the course of two years and then in Moscow, Russia in 1967 ,  after 36 hours, Borgov was forced to resign after Elizabeth queens her king's pawn.  Certainly, her studious efforts illustrate that failing strengthens one by pushing them to work harder towards their goals. 

Secondly, failure strengthens a person because it redirects them. It shows the person where they should not be or that they’re going down the wrong path. For instance, Atticus Lindeman, an orthopedic surgeon, tried and failed for six years on making cartilage out of scratch. He reviewed it with bio-engineers from research industries, laboratories, hospitals, and universities all across the country and was simply told that it was not possible. In 2006, he took all of his research, threw it out, and went the opposite direction. Instead of converting the younger amino acids, which builds protein, he began converting the older amino acids, and by regulating the process he was able to solidify it into cartilage from scratch. Evidently, the long years of failing were worth it, for it strengthens one and leads them to know how to get on the right path. 

In conclusion, failure strengthens a person because it pushes them to work harder and redirects them. Without failure one wouldn’t know the ultimate joy of succeeding and accomplishing a goal. Just like with failing and succeeding, one has to get past the bitter part in order to get to the sweet part of chocolate.