My whole world was put
on pause for one minute as I could just hear
cheers and excitement coming from the other
half of the room. Do you ever like if just
this one thing happened, you could make a huge impact in
what you've always dreamed of? [MUSIC PLAYING] Hey, everyone. My name is Hollis Hunt,
and I was a candidate for the student body president
elections at my college this past year. I was so grateful to attend
a college where people cared so much about student life
and the decisions regarding it. After months of preparation,
voting week had finally come. I was feeling all
kinds of emotions. I was happy, sad, scared,
excited, all of the above. I had made it to the
final round of voting, and it was finally time to
find out who won the election. I remember being in the library,
just pacing back and forth anticipating the results. I made what seemed like a long
walk all the way to the student center from the library and
we were being just bombarded by so many people
wishing me luck and following me to
the student center. I went into the room,
sat down, and was just surrounded by so many
people that I love, that helped me on
this journey, and that helped with the campaign. I could hear the door
open up behind me. And the current student
body vice president walked into the room with
the envelope in their hands with the results inside. He began to say that there
was 10,000 votes submitted in this year's student body
president and executive vice president election. He said this was the
closest election he's ever witnessed or ever heard of. He said the election was
decided by three votes. Three votes, three people,
that's all I could think about. He then announced the winner. And it wasn't me. My whole world was put
on pause for one minute as I could just hear
cheers and excitement coming from the other
half of the room. All these thoughts
came into my head of You could have just
talked to three more people. You could have just
texted three more people. You could have just tried
a little bit harder. I knew these were
unfair thoughts, but that's all I
could think about. I was dumbfounded. Do you ever feel like if
just this one thing happened, you could make a huge impact in
what you've always dreamed of? Well, that was me. I mean, I could have lost
by 300, 400, 500 votes, and I wouldn't
have been as hurt. I was outside all day. I was campaigning
all week, planning for this for so many
months, getting sunburnt, talking to so many people. And all I needed to do was
reach out to three more. All I needed to
do was text, call, just try a little bit harder. And then my thoughts
turned toward my mom. I soon came to realize
that a huge reason of why I was running was because of her. She has been such
a rock in my life and such a foundation
in my life that I wanted to tell her
that her son could do these big and hard things
and come out victorious. My mom and I have been
through so much together, have been through
so much conflict, and have struggled
through so many things. And I just wanted
to tell her that I was able to do this for her. And I can remember how many
times I've cried in my life, because I don't cry a lot. But when my mom called,
reality hit me like a brick. I just felt tears streaming down
my face, and I was just sad. The morning after, I woke up to
actually my mom holding my hand as I woke up. And I realized that
she drove all the way down to where I was living
to be there with me. At first, I was sad to hear
what she was going to say. But then I realized my
definition of failure was a lot different than hers. I began to realize that
she was so proud of me. When I saw negative behavior
or had negative experiences in my life, sometimes I was
too quick to put a label on it or too quick to assume why
that thing was happening. It kind of reminded me of
my relationship with God. Sometimes when things
would happen in my life, I was so quick to question why. Why is this happening? Why does this have to
happen to me right now? What I soon learned was when
I took time to understand, took time to listen to why
certain things were happening, I was able to
develop more empathy. I was able to understand
the bigger reason. Instead of just putting
an automatic label of self-pity, doubt, or
discomfort on things, I soon took more time
to understand things before jumping to conclusions. But God helped me
realize that I wasn't defined by those three votes. I wasn't defined by
those three people. I'm not defined by those three. The purpose of failing
has changed for me. I realize failure
is not in trying. Failure is in not trying at all. I think even my mom would
be more disappointed in me if I didn't try at all
than if I tried so hard and came three votes short. I kind of planned out
what my life would be like if I won the election. And when I didn't
win, I soon realized that sometimes I kind
of catastrophize failure and what it is. And when I had all these
things lined up and planned, I realized that that
wasn't the only plan for me and I couldn't just put
these expectations out for God all the time. I know that when we fail,
we don't stop progressing. When we fail, it doesn't mean we
have to go back to square one. We can use those experiences
and keep on going forward. And it certainly doesn't mean
that we need to stop trying. God is the source of our hope. We can turn to Him when
things don't go our way. When I look back on all
my successes and failures that I've had in my life,
I notice two things. The first thing I
noticed was when I turned to God in
my failures, things began to make more sense. I also realized that
through those failures and when I developed
that resiliency, God was able to use me
as a tool and an advocate for what he wanted me to do. Yes, those three
votes prevented me from what I thought was success. But those three votes could
also be leading me to a success that I don't even
know about yet. I don't understand
all my failures. What I do understand is that I
can choose to learn from them. I can choose to reflect on them. And when I turn to
God in my failures, I know I can become better. I can keep on going. Now I don't think God planned
on me losing by three votes. I don't think He planned on
me winning by three votes. But I know He wanted me
to experience something. I soon came to realize
all these experiences I've had in this life have
pointed me toward Him. Whether it be success, failure,
or any other experience, I've learned to overcome it. I've developed that resiliency. I've been able to see who
I am as a child of God. We all decide how we
see our own three votes. Are those three votes going to
prevent us from being happy? Or are they going to
propel us forward? For all of those who have
failed, keep your chin up. I'm a firm believer that the
best things are yet to come. And when we turn to God in our
failures, He'll get us there I think our failures
really remind us of how much we really
do need to depend on Him.
