A Nigerian father identified as Yinka Dada, has narrated what he told his daughter after she expressed fears of failing JAMB exams.
Sharing the story via LinkedIn, Yinka revealed how his daughter burst into tears after getting to the venue of the exams.
He wrote,
“Understanding Failure
Took my daughter for her JAMB exams last Saturday and discovered the importance of understanding failure; for both kids and adults.
We were waiting for her turn to seat for the exam for 1hr 30min, so we went to an eatry to get refreshments, and for her to revise.
In between our waiting, she bowed her head under the table and I asked what the problem was , not seeing her eyes. On lifting her head, her eyes were full of tears!
I asked what happened or happening and she said she is scared to fail..wow
A little background, she is currently on her way to being a valedictorian in her school, and she has done well academically through her senior years.
Recently , she got awards in Mathematics and English and currently in leadership, as the Senior Prefect Girl..
It dawned on me that my daughter doesn’t know how to manage failure! She has never failed before…
Have always taught her to be driven and be successful, but never explained that there will be detours and she needs to use that to climb into success.
Many of us are alpha male/female but crumble when we fail or have any detours in life- depression, suicide and all forms of negative actions follow failure.
Failure is not final and there are surely other opportunities to try again. I told my daughter am available to buy another form if she fails.
A lesson I also learnt is for us all to be ready to support each other, when a friend or an acquaintance fails. She wiped her tears, smiled and went into the hall and later came out smiling.
Had to do little motivational talk before her papers! We hope for the best in her result though! Failure is not Final..”
