I Believe People Learn From Their Mistakes 

Al Franken once said, “Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way.” My brother Robby has faced many difficult obstacles, and has made several mistakes throughout high school. After seeing him make these aberrations, I personally believe that people learn from their mistakes.

                At 16, my brother Robby was faced with a challenge that also affected my whole family. My siblings, and I received the news that my parents were getting separated. This was hard on everyone considering we were a very close, and what seemed to be an unbreakable family. We did everything together. Every night we sat down for family dinners; we shared funny stories about our days and we enjoyed amazing home cooked meals. Immediately, things changed. My dad moved out, and it became obvious how much this situation troubled my brother. As Robby grew older, his life began to spiral downward. It seemed as though the calls from teachers would never end. It was exhausting to hear my parents fight with him about failing classes. We all knew how much potential he has. However, something was stopping him from applying himself. As Robby continued to make bad decisions, my family sat him down individually to stress the importance of school, and how much it would affect his future. Unfortunately, Robby continued to make decisions that only got him into more trouble.

It was very painful to see someone, who meant so much to me slowly collapse. After trying several other solutions, my parents decided to pull Robby from school and end his senior year with a tutor to receive his final credits to complete high school. It killed Robby inside to have to leave his friends and memories at Fox Lane, but my parents knew it was for the best. This only added to the many emotions stirring through Robby: stress, anger, hatred, sadness. After being out of school for a while, he became aware of his mistakes. As he started earning the credits he needed to pass, slowly I began to see a change in my brother. He smiled more. I could tell he saw his future in a brighter light. We all did. He worked hard academically, and when he wasn’t doing schoolwork, he was working to earn money. Little by little Robby pulled together the pieces of his puzzle that were missing. Although it seemed impossible to get into college with the situation that Robby put himself into, he worked hard, eventually found his spot at the University of West Virginia.

I’m sure everyone in their life has heard the expression, “everyone makes mistakes.” It is so commonly used because it is true. Nobody can go through life without making a mistake, whether it’s a spilled drink, or simply not trying in life. I look up to and learn from Robby because of the strength he used to put his mistakes behind him and move forward. I believe that people learn from their mistakes.