This year I have the pleasure of teaching my eighth year of Business Studies. It has been a consistent part of my teaching career so far and a very enjoyable subject to teach. At the moment my class of 11 Seniors are busily working on their final assessment for the Year 11 coursework; the Business Plan and Pitch. In this task students are required to come up with a business idea of their very own, research it well and present a professional business plan as well as a pitch to a board of investors (Mr Westcott, Mr Ballantyne and myself; two of whom take on their billionaire CEO roles very seriously). Each year I love seeing these ideas start out and grow into a potential business opportunity through the hard work of these students. They have some terrific ideas and I hope one day to see some come to life.
As we learn about what it is like to run a business, students start to see the hard work that goes into success and the small moments that could lead to failure in the business environment. This is true in all aspects of our lives. Looking back at my own journey into teaching there were moments of success like finally finishing my pracs, handing in assessments on time and walking the stage to accept my degree; but there were also moments where I failed. I completed a Bachelor of Business prior to deciding to become a teacher and I remember very well failing my microeconomics class by 1 mark. I had to redo the entire unit and sit all the assessments again while my peers moved on without me. I was stubborn enough to take on the challenge of completing the unit as an extra to my full load that semester and smashed microeconomics with distinction! This wasn’t even the biggest failure of the degree that was probably me deciding to not enter the busy business world that awaited me in Sydney after three years of finishing my degree and instead heading to Parkes for a simpler life.
This failure turned into a lesson for me and one that I have applied to my life moving forward. The lesson that we can not give up on pursuing our goals is an important one. I like to also prove people wrong and do a job well the first time which is something that has come out of the failures of life I am sure. I’ve also learned that sometimes when we “fail” it actually leads us to bigger and better things. Without those failures I would not be where I am today or the person I am today.
I’m hoping through their own success and failures our students experience here, they too can learn valuable lessons that shape their personality and motivate them towards achieving their goals. My other hope is that through the experience of others we can also gain a greater understanding of success and failure without having to go through the negative experiences ourselves. As Proverbs 1:5 says “let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance”.
Hollie
