It’s obvious that college is a time of learning. You learn how to live on your own, how to adapt to the new coursework and how to manage your time.

You end up constantly making adjustments. As a result, it doesn’t take long for students to feel stressed and discouraged.

Many people don’t consider, though, the value that comes with the frustrations of these lessons, and how failure is a necessity in order to succeed.

Failure is not really something that can be measured, nor is it concrete like the diploma these experiences will lead to.

But making mistakes, coming up short on tasks or goals, and learning how to deal with it is an essential experience and one of the most important things you’ll learn in college.

The frustrations that students endure as they mold themselves into who they want to be help form a perspective that is vital for success — that sometimes, your best isn’t good enough.

And that’s OK.

There is a frequent and unfortunate misinterpretation in the message that you are capable of anything.

It’s often thought that if you work hard and do your best, then you are going to accomplish everything you set out for. But the fact of the matter is, we are naturally imperfect.

We all have the potential to do great things, and hard work does pay off eventually. In most cases, people do accomplish what they set out to do, provided they put the time and effort into whatever that may be.

But nobody ever achieved greatness without failing along the way. It’s through our failures that we find what we’re meant to do, and where we are going to succeed.

I often have a hard time coming to grips with the fact that, despite a 100 percent effort, there are going to be instances where my best work simply does not cut it.

I’ve experienced countless incidents during my time at MSU when I put hours of work into studying and I received a grade that reflected otherwise. It’s a situation which I’m sure nearly all students can identify.

Just recently, I spent hours studying for a business exam, felt confident before and after I took the test, and ended up brutally failing it. The whole situation presented itself as an opportunity to overcome adversity, and learn from the process.

Initially feeling angry at the sight of the poor grade, I was forced to come to the realization that I was happy with my effort, even though the end result was negative. Ultimately I had to let it go.

It’s very easy to let these frustrations affect morale and create a feeling of inferiority.

In reality, though, these are just the growing pains that come with learning how to be successful.

Success does not embody simply the glamorous qualities that are seen at the surface. Rather, at its base, it is created from a multitude of failures and frustrations that result in gained knowledge.