mirror derailed dartmouth 
 at school it’s easy constantly perceive perfection admitting failure difficult cares share disappointing moment wish recall feeling erupted success unattainable filled individuals excelled years dartmouth consists prided achievements discussed times struggled crashed burned theory justify failure results exploration leads personal growth — constitutes failure here

for freshmen transition high school college complicates definition failure thrust college environment freshmen struggling depend grades order define explorationâ€ natalie shell ’15 said “you supposed said concept gpa sunk freshmen — included — tend live hypothetically optimism sting perfect gpa sets campus overachievers failure remains linked academic performance ’14 male example pictures failure dartmouth dimensional fail failing class purely academic said surprised think opinions founded personal values college experience far student discussing blunt views further
regardless we’ve “changedâ€ high school dartmouth students extremely high academic expectations time academically i felt i failed let having drop class rigorousâ€ said ’09 male reflecting time students come dartmouth accustomed success having exposed impossible test question students shy away challenges unwilling test limits class i knew i poorly inâ€ said ’15 female “that like self inflicted painâ€

she referenced competitive drive private high school instilled reason school programmed success i guess success meant getting good collegeâ€ said “it’s cool i took classes i knew i excel i guess worked pressured build ideal resume students unaccustomed taking chances simply sake sentiment expressed unusual students distribute “lay upâ€ lists discuss “slam dunkâ€ courses blitz baker berry successful students uniquely risk averse faced insurmountable obstacles students choose quit fail — willing sacrifice i feel like i haven’t worked hardâ€ jasmine kumalah ’12 said “it’s necessarily end process i got said perfect grades did necessarily discourage based i got b — i feel dartmouth students depict failure — i think i learned lot classâ€ said does believe dartmouth encourages academic personal exploration students create atmosphere failing achieve success looked upon

though fear academic failure prevalent community disappointment exists achieving certain social goals new students dartmouth like environment involved inordinate number activities intimidated exhilarated intense immersion extracurriculars participating countless clubs organizations indicate sort students seemingly “superhumanâ€ said annie oppenheim ’15 discussing pressure feels join clubs possible unbelievably occupied copious extracurriculars said “i feel i failing experience dartmouth female ’14 student sees social failure dartmouth inability “to connect people personal levelâ€ despite chronic amazing people able make genuine connections does mean doing wrong makes feel missing outâ€ “constantly waving people greeting people walkâ€ said seemingly indicating multitude friends dartmouth advertises close knit community prospective students difficult instantly mesh community feel failed experience college fully

“i couldn’t people i felt comfortable i wasn’t having fun i thought i wouldâ€ said freshmen year

at school “study hard party harderâ€ atmosphere students definitely perceive social pressure fun taboo individual admit having enjoyable said experienced dissatisfaction junior attempt “fit inâ€ decided join new organizations term regret decision biggest failure dartmouth i stopped tried elseâ€ said “in moment i hadn’t realized good things make happy i wouldn’t realized importance constantly checking making sure you’re doing you’re interested clarified fitting does indicate failure especially “you carve personal students pushed perfection concept failure foreign reminded failure fully subjective mistakes beneficial flawlessness unrealistic admittance defeat admirable

