For those of you out there with unfavorable results after taking your board exams, you’re not alone. New graduates of both physical and occupational therapy are feeling the sting of not passing the boards throughout the country. Although unfortunate, we must look at the situation for what it is – a temporary setback in your journey to becoming a therapist.
There is no doubt you are feeling disappointment, sadness, anger, and maybe even bitterness towards your situation. Allow yourself the time to grieve, but do not dwell on it. Take a break from Facebook and social media, confide in friends and family, and work on your game plan for the next time around. Do not consider yourself a failure. A true failure is a person who gives up on their goals.
Did you know that there are many famously successful people out there who did not achieve success on their first attempts? Here are just a few.
- Henry Ford: Had five businesses fail before he was successfully able to launch the Ford Motor Company.
- Bill Gates: Dropped out of Harvard and was unable to launch his first business successfully. However, his failure did not deter him and he later created Microsoft.
- Walt Disney: Fired for “lack of imagination” and went on to see numerous businesses fail until he finally came up with the wildly popular Disney empire.
- Albert Einstein: Teachers, along with his parents, thought he had mental handicap because he did not speak until the age of four and could not read until the age of seven. At first no one would have believed he would go on to win a Nobel Prize and be remembered as a genius.
- Winston Churchill: Struggled in school, failed the sixth grade, and was defeated in every political election until he finally became Prime Minister at the age of 62. Not only was he elected to be the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, he also went on to win a Nobel Prize.
At this point, what’s done is done. It will do you no good to continue beating yourself up over an outcome you cannot change. If Ford, Gates, Disney, Einstein, and Churchill had given in after their first failed attempts, they would have never achieved the successes we know them for today. Churchill once said, “Success is not final, failure it not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”
Remember, board examinations don’t define you. They are simply a tool utilized to refine your knowledge. Use the passion that pushed you through classes and clinicals to help you prepare for the next attempt, and your therapy career will continue to move forward.
- Madelyn Saylor
Madelyn Saylor joined Aureus Medical Group in early 2012. She works as a Student Recruiter in the Rehab Therapy Student Outreach Program. Previously, she worked as an Admissions Advisor at Kaplan University, after graduating from Longwood University. In her spare time, Madelyn enjoys teaching group fitness classes, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.