When you hear of a festival called International Day for Failure, what is the first thing that comes to mind?
International Day for Failure happens on October 13 each year. This is a day when people get to celebrate their failures as steps towards success. It has three major pillars: feeling motivated to do better when we fail the first time, building a growth mindset so we don’t feel embarrassed when things don’t go as planned, and reflecting upon them so that we can do better next time! Even if it’s only a 5 per cent improvement, that’s still a step in the right direction.
Here at Pui Kiu College, we have celebrated this special day for a couple of years now. Our students have grown by learning from their mistakes. Everyone here is excited to take on challenges, embrace failure and try again.
We set up four activities on this special day. Some students picked beans from a tray using chopsticks; some recited Chinese and English tongue twisters; some tackled challenging maths problems, and some learned how to juggle with two, three or even four scarves.
Regardless of how difficult these games started out to be, our students picked themselves up after each failed attempt and moved forward until they achieved their goals. As Harry Potter’s author JK Rowling once said, “It is the ability to resist failure or use failure that often leads to greater success.” And as Ms Frizzle from the Magic School Bus always says, “Don’t be afraid! Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!”
