Two weeks ago, I had to drop a class I was taking this semester.

Was I disappointed? That is an understatement. I was incredibly upset about this. Here I was, finally on track with school, and now this has set me back (hopefully not enough to prolong graduation next year).

For about a week, I was incredibly down in the dumps about this. It is not that I do not take responsibility, because I will admit that I could have put forth much more effort. I was disappointed in myself, and still am, for not trying harder.

It was not until a few days ago that I realized that setbacks are not the end of the world. We all have them. Yes, I will have to retake the class next fall, on top of the other classes I have yet to take. Yes, this could prolong my graduation date, though hopefully I can prevent that from happening. But I had to realize for myself that this is not the end for me.

Most people in college have little or no self-esteem, and if something like this were to happen, they would probably give up entirely and just drop out. I could have done this myself, but I decided to get stronger and realize I just have to work harder than most people may have to.

This means less partying, and I am OK with that. I know that life is not easy, and this is one of the first examples of how it is not. Some people can go through life and have a pretty easy route to success. Others have to go through many binds, twists and turns before they get to where they need to be. I have finally realized that it is OK if I am the type of person that has to go through several obstacles to get to where I need to be as a successful journalist and human being. This does not mean I can just sit back and take all the time in the world, but if one setback like this occurs, I have to push myself to work harder and prevent it from happening again.

We all have to realize that we are not perfect and we are bound to make mistakes. I was terrified of telling my parents that I had to drop this class. I was terrified of the consequences of my education, whether I would have to stay an extra semester or even an extra year. But I know that I can do better, which is what I am doing and intend to do for the remainder of my time at Eastern.

Do not beat yourself up when you have a setback like this. Instead, you need to learn from it. Learn from your mistakes, and it will teach you to work harder to prevent yourself from making similar ones. As I said, we are all humans, and it is simply human nature for all of us to mess up once in a while. As long as we do not make a habit of it constantly, then I think we will be OK.

Andrew Paisley is a junior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-2812 or abpaisley@eiu.edu.