If we're afraid of the storms at sea, if we prefer to stay safely anchored in a protected cove, how will be learn to sail? We have created a "fail dangerous" attitude in academia when what we need is a "fail safe" system that allows anyone to "fail well" so they can "fail forward" in their quest to achieve and succeed But,what if we saw "failure" as a "practice stage" instead of a mark of Cain, or as a "learning stage" instead finding reason to carve an "F" on our chest, or as a "not yet stage" rather than a cause for shame or embarrassment? We do that when we rehearse on theater stage, when we go out on the sports field or court and prepare for a season, when we play that instrument for the first time, when we start out learning a hobby, when we initially get on a bicycle or skis. Why can't we permit it on our campuses, especially in our classrooms? Why are so many of us, far too many of us, so fearful of and condemning that "try, try, try again" thing? I tell students over and over and over again: if you don't have the courage to fail, you won't strive to achieve; if you don't have the resiliency to withstand error, if you don't learn and use the lessons of failure, you won't have an audaciousness to significance and greatness. And, I stand behind and live those words.
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