My experience as a volunteer mentor for a group of high achieving but underprivileged public school students have allowed me to observe how children of today experience and handle failures, and how these have become their best experiences too.
We would assume high achieving kids would probably experience less failures; but in reality, they don't. In fact, these failures are the very things that help them to become high achievers. Most of these children were not born into a privileged home but their own acceptance of a less than perfect background and environment have trained them to be resilient. And those with the optimism, willingness and diligence to take advantage of the opportunities that may not be always obvious, are the ones who achieve in life.As part of the Galing Mo Kid* program this year, the topic was Community Service, where the program trains our children to become champions of their community whether it be community service or social enterpreneurship. The children would have to pick a project of their own to plan and execute.
One time, one of the kids asked me voluntarility if they can do a second project. They were in the midst of completing their orphanage visit and it was the time just after Typhoon Yolanda struck the country. They were very eager to help the typhoon victims and they can't help think about what they can contribute. Seeing such generous hearts really touches me profusely. I was so proud of them that they are taking their own initiative to do this, not just because it's part of the program. So I gave them some pointers, asked them to draft a letter to their principal to request permission for soliciting donations from the students, teachers and staff and to clearly indicate their objectives. They were quite confident that the principal is going to approve it, since it's for a good cause. The following Monday, I heard from their Teacher Coordinator, that their request has been disapproved by the principal, despite it being for a good cause, and duly endorsed by their Teacher Coordinator. Sometimes, the kids are too eager that they forget to go through the proper planning and research. In hindsight, if they had known that a similar program had already been conducted in the school, then they might have thought of another alternative. The kids were disappointed, as expected, but the important thing here was their voluntary initiative. They also learned a valuable lesson, that not everything they plan and want will always go as expected. But despite their disappointment, they did not dwell on it. This didn't stop them from thinking of other opportunities to help, which is a great characteristic of great achievers.
The other group also had their plans to conduct a free art workshop for their younger school mates. Art has always been a favorite activity for them and they've also learned a lot during the Galing Mo Kid program and wanted to share these with other students. Again, you can see their generous hearts in action. While planning this, part of the requirement they had was to do a fund raising activity to raise some money to buy the art supplies for the workshop.
Despite their busy schedules, they were able to think of selling some snacks, munchkins specifically, at the park on weekends. I was surprised to hear that the munchkins are actually something they make themselves out of crushed graham crackers and condensed milk, and not the munchkins known to be sold in the donut shop. The kids are surprisingly creative. This characteristic was also observed during their previous year with the program when the topic was Enterpreneurship. So this is not really new to them. Little by little, you can see how they embed what they've learned and applied them. First time they ran the sale, they were successful, but they just broke even. So they ran the sale again the second time and got some profits.
Seeing how they've been successful, they decided to do a final run to meet their target. But this time, they decided to change the product to French Toasts with Ham, so kind of like a French Toast sandwich. Again, this was a creation they came up with. The kids busily prepared these, but unfortunately, when they were already selling it, they realized that they did not decide on the pricing. The customer was already there and feeling the pressure, one of them just blurted out a price, which turned out to be below their cost. They also forgot to cut the sandwich into half which was supposedly their original plan. As a result, they lost money, and they lost big! Now they're back to step 1, or even step 0 since they were now negative of their capital. A really big lesson learned for the kids is that there is no shortcut to success. Proper planning and regular reviews are very crucial. One simple mistake can make the entire tower fall. And that's exactly what happened. Since they thought simply changing the product in an already proven successful method is a small adjustment, they had failed to rethink the plan. Overconfidence and complacency are also common culprits. Because they've been successful twice in the past, the focus on planning, or in this case, replanning, was lost.
The children were obviously disappointed and they lost interest. They shared their experiences with us, and how bad they felt. At one point, they were tempted to blame some of the other members, a very common reaction too in these situations. Later, we also learned that not all customers have paid yet, which was another important lesson learned. In fact, this is a common weakness brought about by culture. We Filipinos tend to trust easily. And it is very hard to say "no", especially to a friend or a family member. But in real life, this trust is not always a guarantee, whether intentionally broken or not. That is why combining families and businesses don't usually come highly recommended in our environment.
With the replanning and additional ideas provided by the mentors, they gained back some momentum. While the plan was to rerun the original product that was a success, they again decided to change the product to Sago't Gulaman (tapioca balls and gelatin), but this time they did it right, and was able to gain back their original capital. A great big sigh of relief in a Facebook post by one of the kids, "success ang gulaman salamat naman (translated as the sale of gulaman was successful, thank you)", signals the meeting of a big milestone. Unfortunately, their school schedule did not allow them to conduct their art class as it was the end of the school year, but the important thing, is that they were able to gain back their capital and pay back their teacher from whom they borrowed the money. They also learned some valuable lessons.
Seeing them at the final culminating activity to signify their graduation from the 3-year program, I recognized their effort and told them that I heard about their success. The kid replied by saying "yeah, but it's not yet enough", signifying the lack of fulfillment on their end, and their continued yearning for a more successful run next time.
Kids, that's the way to go! Don't stop dreaming and don't be afraid to make mistakes and learn from them!*Galing Mo Kid Program is a project by Hands on Manila where a selected group of high-achieving but underprivileged public school students are chosen to undergo a program which teaches them Heroism, Enterpreneurship and Community Service to enhance their leadership skills and develop values such love for country, honesty and integrity.
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