Principal's Message
Welcome to HW2! I would like to share with all of you about a value, a value which is essential to us and that’s the value of making mistakes. Many of us tend to avoid making mistakes and see mistakes as something negative, but in fact, I’d like to share with you all about the benefits of making mistakes. We all have a natural fear of making mistakes, feeling embarrassed or uncomfortable. If we have to admit that something went wrong and take action to correct it, we need to have a lot of courage in order to overcome our fear and this learning process opens us up for growth and advancement. Facing our fear can be a sign of power and resilience for us.
Making mistakes allows us to explore alternatives. They require us to re-examine a problem and think creatively for other solutions or approaches. Mistakes teach us what doesn’t work and encourage us to create new ways of thinking and doing. Creativity and innovation are then developed with the continuous practice of trials and errors.
However, it doesn’t mean that we just keep on repeatedly making the same mistakes. All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes. It is through mistakes that we learn how to do things right. Thomas Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When he was asked by a reporter how he felt, to fail 1,000 times, he replied, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.” Owning your mistakes and turning them into something positive does not dishonour you as a person. In fact, it elevates your standing as a brave and responsible person, just like Thomas Edison.
Albert Einstein, the great scientist, once said, “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” Elon Musk, the founder, CEO and chief engineer at SpaceX, product architect of Tesla, quoted “Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough." Many of these successful people share some common qualities. Apart from making mistakes, what they possess is perseverance, hard work and discipline in order to make achievements and finally much improved life for everyone in the world.
The world out there is waiting for all of you to explore and discover. As long as you have tried your best, don’t worry about making mistakes and admitting failures. Make sure that you learn from your mistakes every time and don’t make the same mistakes again. Gradually you will improve bit by bit and enhance yourself more and more. Let’s have fun during our journey of learning and exploration!
Ms Tse Chun Yin
Principal