Mia’s story

Mia was having to repeat the first year of her degree in medicine at the University of Exeter. She did a 1-day Grit workshop at the start of that year.

I was feeling like a failure. It was horrible. I was angry, resentful, full of self-doubt. I had a pessimistic mind set and was really not in the right place to start studying again. I didn’t want to socialise. I didn’t want to meet the newbies – I’d been through freshers week last year and didn’t want to do that again. And I certainly didn’t want to speak with friends from last year either. I felt left behind.

I’d never been to anything like Grit before. I hadn’t expected to be sharing things about how I was feeling and I was really surprised when I found myself crying. I had started talking to the group when all these emotions came out of nowhere. I realised that I hadn’t processed the full impact on me of having to repeat. I was just ploughing through. Now I was able to start reflecting properly, start taking the time to digest what had happened.

The trainer was amazing. He helped me see that I was blaming the tutors, lecturers, the whole university for me failing an assessment. But that blaming other people is not helping me. I fact, it is making me feel worse.

I’ve changed the way I look at things. I’m not thinking about what happened as a failure but as an opportunity to grow and develop as a person. I’ve shifted my perspective. I’m grateful for what I have got: the place to study at Medical School, my family, my friends. I have a changed mindset. I’ve let go of the whole issue of having to repeat.

It had been difficult to know how to explain my situation to people. If I talked about it in a shameful way I thought people looked down on me. So now I talk about it in a more a light-hearted way. It was just something unfortunate that happened to me. As one of my friends says, it sounds cool to deal with it like that. I’m not describing it with shame. I’m coming at it from a place of confidence.

Grit gave me a new energy. I’m motivated. I’m grabbing all the opportunities I can. I’ve joined societies, taken roles so I can to practice my leadership skills: being on a committee, arranging events. I’ve become a Student Ambassador, representing the university and the Medical School at Open Days.

I’m taking proper care of myself. Last year I was just studying all the time. This year I’m going out socialising with a great group of friends, I’m making time to read for pleasure.

Grit gave me a sense of peace, a place to reflect, away from all the academic pressures. It got me moving forward again. Now I’m in the right place. I’m passing assessments. I’m getting on great with my tutors. And I’ve just passed the assessment I failed last year!

Life is great.