Good afternoon, THIS!
To be completely honest, I am both honored and terrified to be the secondary student speaker today.
When I was first told by Ms. Nguyen that they were choosing me to speak at the opening ceremony, I was extremely anxious, mainly because the idea of being seen as an exemplary person, being seen as a role model scares me.
After all, just like everyone else, I’ve made a huge amount of mistakes in both my academics and my personal life. I’ve made terrible decisions out of fear or anger. I’ve been through failures academically. This entire summer I’ve been working in a lab, and I’ve been thoroughly disappointed by my results 99% of the time. This is me: a person who makes mistakes.
So, if I’ve experienced so much failure, why am I still trusted by my peers, and even trusted by the school to make this speech?
It’s because failure doesn’t define me – I define my failure. And my success doesn’t define me – I define my success.
If we define our mistakes to be the end of the road for us, that they’re the final straw and that there’s nothing we can do about them ever again, then that’s what the mistakes will be. But if we define our mistakes to be crossroads leading to a new path, signs to try something new and put in more time, then that’s what the mistakes will be.
As a science nerd, every time I fail an experiment in the lab, I see two choices before me. I can define that as the reason why I’m never touching science again. Or, I can define it as the reason why I’m doing more research, finding more possible methods to make my next step better. If a failed project was enough to make a person a failure, then every single scientist in the world would be a failure right now, and science would’ve never improved. But that’s not the case at all.
And as a Chinese debater I can’t tell you how many times we’ve experienced heartbreak after weeks or even months of preparation for a competition. But instead of letting those losses become the end of our time as debaters, we allowed them to push us into the best that we can be. And that’s why after two and a half years, we would finally become national champions.
I’m looking at all of the returning students out there in the audience, and some of you were already doing great last year, some of you maybe not. But if you’ve been succeeding, that’s doesn’t make you the victor. If you’ve been failing, that doesn’t make you the loser. Your success only means something if you use it to fulfill new goals and motivate yourself. Your mistakes only mean something if you use them to find new paths and new determination.
If you’re one of the many students new to THIS, welcome to your new home! This is your chance to push yourself to the limit and explore new goals and dreams. You shouldn’t be afraid of failure here in THIS, because there will always be mentors, peers, and even strangers who will cheer you on. THIS is a family built on mutual support and care. We will be your lighthouse when you’re lost, and we will have your back as you reach and climb upwards.
With that, I wish for every student of THIS the same courage and determination held by the ancient Spartans that we name ourselves after. I wish for you the same defiance that they had when staring into the face of a true challenge. That when you’re told by the world to drop your weapons and surrender, you respond with the motto of the Spartans: “Molon labe”, “come and take them”.
We hope you all have a wonderful year here at THIS!
