Describe a piece of advice that someone gave you

The piece of advice that has stayed with me most was given to me by my father when I was about fifteen. I was extremely worried about a school maths competition, and I told him I was thinking of withdrawing because I was afraid of failing in front of everyone.

He listened calmly and then said, 'You can't lose what you don't risk, but you can't win if you don't try. Nobody remembers the person who didn't go.' It sounds simple, but at that moment it changed the way I thought. I had been focusing on what might go wrong, and his words made me look at the possible benefits instead.

I decided to take part, and although I didn't win, I came sixth out of about forty students, which was much better than I'd expected. More importantly, I learned a lot from the experience and met several students who later became good friends.

This advice has helped me in many ways. For instance, last year I almost didn't apply for a scholarship because I assumed that stronger candidates would be chosen. Then I remembered what my father said and sent in my application. I eventually got a partial scholarship, which was a great help to my family.

In hindsight, I think the advice was good because it was practical and encouraged action rather than just comfort. I've also repeated it to my younger cousins whenever they were afraid of trying something new. I suppose that's the sign of really good advice: it keeps being passed on.