Have you ever failed to learn or understand something, then come back to it later and fully grasp it? What changed between the first attempt and the second? Was it your teacher? Your mindset? Or was it just that you needed more experience before you were able to understand it? In How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition by Bransford et. al (2000) these ideas are addressed, specifically around how one actually achieves understanding and true learning. 

My essay, Expertise in Magic: The Gathering,  takes inspiration from these ideas as I recount my journey through failure to mastery in something near and dear to my heart: Magic: the Gathering. I reflect on how, as a young child, I failed to understand the trading card game and what factors led to that. In addition, I take a look at how, more than a decade later, I picked the game back up and was able to master it with new learning techniques. 

As I understand that Magic: The Gathering is a rather complex game that others may not know the rules to, I have included the directions to Magic: the  Gathering, so that anyone can look at how to play the game if they are interested.