We live in a society where we strive to be right. Scoring an A on a test is expected, and anything less is disappointing. This emphasis on being correct causes students to whine for extra points on tests that they didn’t earn. In the grand scheme of things, those few extra points aren’t going to affect your future or probably even your GPA. We need to work on accepting when we mess up so we can grow as people.

Nobody wants to be wrong, and even if it isn’t over anything important, it still stinks to be told your thoughts and ideas are incorrect or out of place. Our egos can be fragile things, but we need to understand that being wrong is not the end of the world. It’s unlikely that someone will think less of you for mistaking the year World War II started or forgetting the formula to graph a parabola.

Our fear of being wrong not only translates to school, but also to our homes. At home, some of us argue with our parents over being grounded or with siblings over who rode in the middle seat the last time you were all in the car together. These small things definitely won’t change our futures for better or worse, but the constant bickering can weaken relationships with the important people in our lives.

Knowing when it’s OK to be wrong is a difficult lesson to learn and I’m still working on it every day, but AP Euro gave me multiple instances to accept my failures. I wasn’t used to getting grades as low as I was in history, but instead of trying to battle my teacher for more points, I looked at what I was missing on tests and went in after school to learn how to improve my study habits. If I had If I had focused on arguing with my teacher instead of accepting my shortcomings, I don’t think it would’ve actually learned and improved my future test scores.

Additionally, the entitled “I’m right” attitude is just plain annoying. It’s impossible for everyone to always agree, but it is possible to deal with disagreements in a positive way. The energy used to fight about pointless things could be used to accomplish things that could help you rather than putting stress on yourself and others. Take what you did poorly and grow from it.

The best way to accept your failures is to put it in perspective. People appreciate those that accept their mistakes, because it shows resilience and self acceptance. Instead of trying to convince people we’re right when we aren’t, we should really be trying to work to improve ourselves.