Music education major John Gavin became the first non-business student to win the UCF College of Business (#UCFBusiness) Failure Competition this month, earning $500 and a letter of recommendation from Dean Paul Jarley, Ph.D. Second and third place winners Jonathon Valin and Ida Santiago were awarded $300 and $200, respectively.
This is the seventh semester that the Failure Competition has been held, but only the second one open to all enrolled UCF students.
鈥淕etting comfortable with failure is a key step in becoming a better risk鈥搕aker and successful business leader,鈥� said Dean Jarley in a blog post. 鈥淭hat is why we celebrate failure and persistence in the college.鈥�
In an essay and video posted to Dean Jarley鈥檚 blog (), Gavin described a series of setbacks he encountered in college as he worked to achieve his dream of being a professional musician. He was rejected by the UCF Music Department and cut from three separate drum corps. Still, he persevered.
鈥淓very audition is an opportunity for success or failure,鈥� said Gavin. 鈥淧eople never see the hundreds of thousands of hours musicians must spend alone in a practice room. Similar to any other refined skill, successful music-making requires repeated deliberate practice.鈥�