Why Some Students Fail

Failure is the opposite of success. Despite the fact that almost everybody wants to succeed and no one wants to fail, many still end up failing. They fail, not because they are not good enough at what they do or they did not study enough for exams or they did not do what they were supposed to do, but because of some other reasons.

It is vital to point out some facts, especially for those who have experienced failure in different areas, for those on the verge of experiencing it, and those who will eventually experience it. Just because you failed doesn’t mean you are a failure! Failure is nothing but an experience you went through. It is not you, and you are not it. A failure today does not mean that you will never succeed in that thing. So don’t let failure get you down.

The simple fact that people fail when they don’t want to and when they don’t need to makes it imperative to identify some things that lead to failure for us to tackle them, especially in situations where we have done all to succeed.

Some Reasons Students Fail

Fear: A student was asked why she failed. She answered, “I failed because I was afraid.” Somebody once defined fear using the acronym FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real.

Fear is the feeling you get when you think something bad is going to happen to you. It brings tension, anxiety, and even torment. It can make you unable to articulate what you already know. It can paralyze you, because you already expect the worst to happen. It causes you to be against yourself when nobody is against you.

Fear is capable of truncating your destiny by making you fail even when you are good enough to pass.

Overconfidence: While fear makes you perform below your capability, overconfidence, which is an excessive trust that you can do something successfully, can make you fail also.

            When you believe too much in yourself, you soon begin to underestimate God and others—even those who are in a position to help you. If you do that, God will no longer be on the scene in your life. Arrogance will become the norm. You will not care about other people’s feelings, thereby hurting them even when you are right. You will become repulsive. Grace will no longer follow you. And you will do things out of context.

Bad omens: This can also be referred to as bad luck or bad company. You almost have no control over this. For example, when the results of a whole class’s exams are withheld because of cheating, everyone who took it—both those who were involved in the cheating and those who were innocent—suffer. Little wonder the Bible says, “Be not deceived; evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Corinthian 15:33 KJV).

A bad omen situation is something you don’t see coming. It just befalls you when you least expect it.

Anxiety: Anxiety can come upon you when you are worried or uneasy or very eager or in a hurry to answer a question. You become nervous and jittery. The problem is that you lose control. You begin to make unpardonable and unnecessary mistakes—even in a subject area you know well. You will be perplexed at the sort of errors you make just because of anxiety.

Lack of composure: The inability to keep calm is referred to as a lack of composure. It is the feeling you have when you are upset. You are unable to keep your cool.

While anxiety comes on you during a test because you are in a hurry to put down what you know, lack of composure often occurs if you don’t plan your work or prepare for an exam. When you don’t have a worked-out and concise plan for approaching a question or you don’t have enough ideas to develop because you aren't prepared, your composure diminishes, and your work will be disorganized. It will portray that you are confused, because it will lack organization.

Lack of concentration: Most students are easily carried away with what is goings on around them. This causes them to lose focus on their goals, aims, and aspirations.

During exams, students are often distracted by fellow students who ask for their assistance. In the process of trying to help, they abandon their own work. By the time they return to it, their concentration is poor, and they have to try to catch up with where they left off.

Courtesy:

The Perfect Scholar by Jimoh Braimoh (Jr)

This blog post will not be complete without your contribution. Please kindly add any reason why you think some student fail even when they ought not to.