Ryan Barnes cried himself to sleep for two weeks after seeing his final grade in elementary statistics. The Georgia Southern University sophomore had never failed a class before, and watching his GPA drop to 3.17 left him questioning everything he thought he knew about himself.
"I was like, man, I don't got it no more," Barnes said. "I was just thinking to myself, what happened to make me dumb?"
While students like Barnes struggle with shame and self-doubt after academic failure, educational psychology research suggests these setbacks can serve an important purpose when handled correctly. The difference between productive failure that leads to growth and destructive failure that spirals into hopelessness often depends on how students, advisors and educators respond.
Dr. Meca Williams-Johnson, who holds a doctorate in educational psychology and teaches research methods in the College of Education at Georgia Southern, describes it as finding the "Goldilocks spot" of failure.
"You want to have experiences for students where they can learn from their failure," Williams-Johnson said. "They don't have too much where they feel that it's hopeless, that they shouldn't continue."
For Barnes, the failed statistics course triggered a depression that lasted weeks. The fear of losing his HOPE scholarship compounded the psychological impact.
"The grade didn't kill me, but it felt like the end of the world," Barnes said.
Embarrassment is the most common first reaction advisors see when students fail a class, according to Laurie Harrlett, an academic advisor in Georgia Southern's College of Arts and Humanities. The emotional response intensifies when financial aid is at risk.
"We try and do our best part to be like, 'Hey, this is just a little glitch. You're definitely not alone," Harrlett said.
Williams-Johnson emphasizes that the key factor is what students do after experiencing failure. She encourages students to identify what went wrong in specific terms rather than making sweeping judgments about their intelligence.
Barnes traced his failure to a simple behavior: not attending class. He completed homework assignments but had no notes when exam time arrived.
"I studied for the exams," Barnes said. "The one I studied the most for, I got the lowest grade."
That self-questioning led to productive behavioral changes. Barnes has not missed a single class this semester.
"It made me realize I need to go to every class this semester," Barnes said.
Georgia Southern offers several resources to help students recover from academic setbacks. The university's grade forgiveness program allows students to retake failed courses and replace the failing grade in their GPA calculation.
The Academic Success Center has expanded its support services over the past two years, moving beyond simple check-ins to more integrative coaching. Tutoring services now include virtual options, evening hours, and weekend availability.
Williams-Johnson stresses that students need to establish support networks early in their college careers, before problems arise.
"It's very important for students early on to establish where are my safe places that I can turn to when I have a question, when things go wrong, because they will," Williams-Johnson said.
For Barnes, the recovery process remains ongoing. He still struggles with confidence but has made concrete behavioral changes.
"I can't really admit when I need help," Barnes said. "I got to swallow my pride sometimes."
Williams-Johnson argues that this type of self-awareness represents exactly the kind of growth that productive failure can generate.
"Sometimes, when you fail at something, it's not the end of the world, but it is a learning opportunity," Williams-Johnson said.