Dear Mom,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last weekend was graduation weekend here. For those who graduated with all As (here, all Ls), there\u2019s reason to celebrate. Their futures are set. It\u2019s just a matter of deciding which university to attend. Which academic dreams to pursue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For those who graduated, but just barely, there\u2019s \u201ccelebration\u201d, but it\u2019s more \u201cWell, at least she managed to make it through.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went to a graduation party for a girl who barely made it out of high school last weekend. \u201cIt\u2019s not that she\u2019s stupid,\u201d I heard someone say. \u201cShe\u2019s just lazy and interested in everything but<\/em> school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n How terrible for her. I can only imagine how Bill Gates\u2019 and Steve Jobs\u2019 parents must have felt when their sons were too interested in anything but school to graduate. And God knows Walt Disney was a disappointment \u2013 he didn\u2019t even make it through high school. And hey, as a kid, Albert was no Einstein either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most of us spend (i.e. waste) a huge amount of time and energy trying not to screw up in life. We\u2019re taught at school not to make mistakes. To do anything but fail. But why? Aren\u2019t we at school to learn? And doesn\u2019t learning come with making mistakes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you know, I did go to college. And I got a Master\u2019s degree in politics (heavy on the philosophy). Two sentences from the zillions of sentences I read during my eight years at university have always stuck with me: \u201cThe impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.\u201d Marcus Aurelius said that. He was a Roman Emperor, a philosopher and a very smart dude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What Aurelius meant and Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Walt Disney and a whole slew of other \u201cpoor students\u201d prove is this: Failure doesn\u2019t define us. Our ability to learn from it does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s a lesson even some of the brightest students fail to learn. And one that some of the biggest \u201cfailures\u201d seem to know intuitively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When asked about her post-high school plans, the girl whose graduation party I went to last weekend smiled brightly and said: \u201cI\u2019d love to be a lawyer, but my grades weren\u2019t good enough to even take the entrance exam.\u201d There was an awkward silence, forced smiles and a quick change of subject. But she didn\u2019t really seem to notice. Or if she did, he didn\u2019t seem to care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why? Because a little thing like that isn\u2019t going to hold this girl back in life. Sure, it\u2019s a bump in the road. But I have a feeling what stands in her way will become the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So to every kid who barely made it out of high school this spring, I say congratulations. I can\u2019t wait to see what amazing things you\u2019ll do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Love,\nLissu<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dear Mom, Last weekend was graduation weekend here. For those who graduated with all As (here, all Ls), there\u2019s reason to celebrate. Their futures are set. It\u2019s just a matter of deciding which university to attend. Which academic dreams to pursue. For those who graduated, but just barely,
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