Sally Lee

I was a coward in elementary school, and I think I still am a coward. But what changed as I grew up is that I learned how to endure tears. When I was young, I always cried if things didn't go my way. Then, one day, after hearing the words of the piano teacher, who comforted me, it changed my perspective on failure.

When my passion for the piano extinguished after making a huge mistake on the stage, the piano teacher consulted me by saying,

"Life is a combination of processes. All your tears are just a process. Failure is just a process, too."

I had fallen into a lot of thought after hearing the teacher's advice. I noticed that the cause of my tears was the disappointment with myself over the failure. Since then, I have focused only on practicing piano, not much on the mistakes and past failures. In the end, I was rewarded with my efforts in the piano competition.

While working on my computer programming project reminded me of my past. Every time I saw errors in the "method" I entered, I incessantly tried until the program produced the results I wanted. Looking at the completed project, I wondered if I could have completed the project if it had not been for the teacher's comfort that day.

Overcoming fear and pain is in a way is a mission given to humans. I think I learned to accept failure as a process through the comfort of my teacher, and I desire the maturity that leads me to continue with the practice of enjoying the bitter taste of the failure. So far, there are times when I can't sleep well in despair due to failure, but in a way, I see it as significant growth. In the end, all the failures have contributed to the achievement.