The title says it all.
Here is the essay.
Describe a time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you and what did you learn from the experience?
Bowled Out
When I was a kid, I used to think that winning determined everything. However, at that time, I was unaware of the fact that winning can never provide important insights about some basic, yet very important realisations.
I have been playing cricket ever since I was a kid. You may want to ask me, why cricket? Well, the answer to that question can be traced back 10 years ago, when my father first accompanied me to see an international cricket match. The views which I witnessed then enthralled me so much that I started to play cricket.
However, I wasn’t very good at it in the very beginning. I learned to play cricket from my two elder brothers in our neighborhood, who were star players in their respective teams and even lead their teams to championship titles more than once. But if you think that their influence had rubbed off on me, then you will be completely wrong. Although I wasn’t totally hopeless and could bat well, I lacked the skills and shine of an adroit finisher.
During the summer of my tenth grade, my school cricket team “The Riders” entered the interschool cricket championship and continued to win somehow and even entered the semifinals, although we lacked decent “match winning players”.
In the do-or-die match of the semis, our team faced the real terror. Having to chase a big target, we lost too many of our wickets in quick succession and after our team captain got out, our innings started to plummet and the situation looked even more disastrous. Predictably, the game rolled onto the final over with a huge score to chase. Although I was a set batsman at that time, I was too idealistic and thought everything would go according to my wish. Except my life wasn’t like that of “The Sandlot” and the hopes and desires our teammates, supporters and coach had for a last minute rally into the finals were crushed when the umpire declared “bowled out” to me.
After the match, I took the entire blame on myself. I thought of myself as a complete failure who had just poured water on to the months of hard work of others. I was very disappointed with my performance and was tremendously indignant to myself. The warm and consoling words of my mom and dad didn’t reach me and I was silent during the entire bus ride to my home. For the next few days, I was still depressed as the final moments of the game flashed before my eyes. I thought if it weren’t for me and my lack of skills, we would have sailed smoothly into the finals, and who knew, even won the championship trophy.
About a week later, I again met my teammates when our school reopened after the summer vacation. However, I was surprised to see the usually friendly nature of my mates. I thought that everyone would be disappointed and mad at me after not being able to play in the prestigious setting of the finals. However, only after a regular practice match did I realize why no one was angry at me. Maybe I was far too idealistic and by trying to live up to the expectations of my brothers, I had my thoughts clouded and failed to see the obvious. Winning and losing were just two faces of a game. What was more important was participation. Although we lost the match, our journey to the semi-finals was an indelible one. After all, the experiences we had and the times we spent together were more important than any silver trophy. So, who cared if we lost a match and were eliminated from the tournament. However, maybe I needed to get BOWLED OUT to realize that.