Prior Knowledge

I have little time to reflect on this, but a homework assignment I received from a student at Oakland Tech made me realize all that our students bring, including prior knowledge on what it takes to be successful.

In response to the homework question:
What do you think Henry Ford meant when he said “Failure is the chance to begin again more intelligently”?
Natalie Tieng responded:
I think that this quote means persistence. (Yes, she underlined it. J) Persistence is the inner strength to stick it out when you would rather quit. Most truly successful people endure a lot of failure before they achieve success. J.K. Rowling was snubbed by dozens of publishers before she hit it big with the Harry Potter series; Oprah Winfrey was fired from one of her first jobs because somebody decided she ‘wasn’t fit for TV.’ It’s okay to fail as long as you see the lessons in every mistake you make and use them to your advantage to become even stronger. Persistence means changing the “I can’t” into “I will” – and continuing to believe in yourself no matter what. I think this quote from Henry Ford is all about persistence. (Yes, she underlined it again!)

She may already be in the running for best youth entrepreneur!