Miraya Madhav

“89! HOW DID MY GRADE DROP TO 89! YESTERDAY IT WAS 92! MOOOOOM!”

Yes, this is me raging over my math grade dropping when it was clearly my fault. Mistakes are a part of life, and I learned this when I made a simple error on my coordinate grid project. I had worked hard on the assignment, making sure all the points were plotted correctly and the picture was colored in neatly. However, I forgot one important thing. I didn’t write my name on the paper. When I checked my grades  I was surprised to see my math grade had dropped from a 92 to an 89. The teacher commented that without my name, she couldn’t give me credit for  my work. This taught me that small details matter and can affect the amount of scolding I receive. From then on, I made sure to double-check my work and include my name before turning it in.

Mistakes are VERY annoying, as you can see. Have you ever heard the term, “Nobody’s perfect”? Everyone wants to be perfect but that is never going to happen. If someone never made a mistake, I would think their perfectness would be a mistake. Today (when you are reading this it would be yesterday), people were crowding around a girl for something she didn’t do. People assumed that she had ruined the surprise for a teacher except she never did that. Even though I had no part in this I still felt bad of all the times I’ve made fun of her. To say sorry I invited her to my birthday party.(Well I haven’t made the invitations yet.)

When I see someone else make a mistake, I try to stay calm and understanding. Instead of pointing it out in a mean way, I offer help if they need it. I might say something like, “It’s okay, everyone messes up sometimes,” or “Do you want help fixing it?” I don’t want them to feel embarrassed or upset, because I know mistakes are a normal part of learning. I think it’s important to be kind and supportive so they feel encouraged to keep trying. 

Anyways, speaking of being embarrassed, here is an example of something I did when someone made a mistake. During the band performance, we were supposed to wear a white shirt and black pants. Meanwhile, one of the players had made a mistake. Instead she read it as a white skirt and black pants so she wore a black shirt and a white skirt. Some of the other clarinet players started making fun of her so I went up to them and started complaining how their shirt wasn’t perfectly white and that it wasn’t her fault that she read the dress code wrong.​ They didn’t have to be so rude about it and then it’s just a mistake. And they didn’t speak to us after that

In the end, everyone makes mistakes. What matters is how we learn from them and how we treat others when they make their own. By being honest about our own errors and showing kindness to others, we help each other become better, stronger, and more caring people.