"Irina, people won't be afraid of you any more if you share this story."

A student told me today.

(Wait, what? People are afraid of me? Let me know in the comments.)

Anyway, here is the story.

I am super-organized and focused. But today I screwed up big time - I scheduled an interview with a potential student and didn't show up because I simply forgot about the interview.

Forgetting is normal, of course. That's why I put all my arrangements and commitments on Google Calendar. But today, for some unfathomable reason, I didn't open it in the morning. I only realized I had forgotten when the student messaged me on Telegram.

Reactions to screw-ups are even more important than screw-ups.

Here is what I did:

1️⃣ I apologized profusely and told the person the truth: I forgot. (Which I always do. If I forgot, I say, "Sorry, I forgot." I don't make up "personal emergency" excuses.)

2️⃣ I wrote this story because stories like this are supposed to make me appear more human. (I take pride in appearing to be a robot, but people say I need to appear human.)

3️⃣ I told this story in all my classes today and jumped at the chance to teach the phrase "Happens to the best of us." (See what I did here? I screwed up, but called myself "the best of us" anyway. Smart.)

The moral of the story is: Even though I am super-organized, I am only human. Don't be afraid of me.