<p>Hi! I'm practicing for SAT essay and I would like extremely honest (yet constructive!) feedback on how I can improve. Thanks (:</p>
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<p>Excerpt: The novelist John Hersey wrote, "Learning starts with failure: the first failure is the beginning of education." </p>
<p>Assignment: What are your thoughts on the idea that failure is necessary for education to take place? </p>
<p>Essay:</p>
<p>Failure is necessary for education to take place as it allows us to reflect on what prevented us from achieving our desired outcome. By determining the cause of our failure, we gain more knowledge and wisdom, and can avoid repeating our mistakes in the future. </p>
<p>Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple, is a great example of someone who encountered failure, reflected on what went wrong and used this newfound knowledge to better himself. In the 1980s, he was booted out of Apple, the company he founded himself, for being too demanding and quarrelsome with his colleagues. Despite experiencing great humiliation at first, Steve Jobs knew that his ideas for Apple were unique and had much potential. He realized that he needed to convince people that his obsessiveness with detail, which often made him blow his top with his employees, was in fact a quality that could catapult Apple to new heights. All he needed now was to prove this to his former colleagues. With this in mind, Steve Jobs entered the most creative period of his life. By diagnosing the reason for his failure and thinking of a solution, Steve Jobs new exactly the course of action he needed to take. His failure made him realize what he wanted Apple's core values to be and he set out to convince others of this. As a result, Apple has churned out many competitive innovations such as the iPhone, iPad and MacBook that continually please audiences with their careful focus on the smallest of details. </p>
<p>I have also personally realized the importance of failure in educating ourselves. By experiencing continual success, it is easy for one to get complacent. Failure serves as an awakening reminder to us that we should continually be working on our weaknesses. By constantly reflecting on our mistakes, we gain valuable knowledge to better ourselves. For example, I recently failed my Biology exam. It came as a crippling shock for me and I immediately decided to focus on my study habits. What could I do differently? I realized that I was attempting to cram all the content I needed to revise the week before the exam. It occurred to me that THAT was the reason my knowledge retention was so poor! I decided to make a concious effort to start studying earlier - not just for Biology but also other subjects - and I saw improved grades across all my disciplines! </p>
<p>Failure is, most of the time, very disheartening and humiliating. But if we choose to learn from our mistakes and use our failures as an opportunity to better ourselves</p>
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<p>Yup, I didn't have time to finish my conclusion. This was my first time trying a SAT essay and I'm not a very fast writer :( </p>
<p>Aside from misspelling 'conscious' and not being able to complete my conclusion, what are some areas I can improve? My SAT is in January, so I've still got plenty of time for practice (:</p>