Building Resilience in Students
Building Resilience in Students
Building resilience in students has become a vital goal for educational institutions seeking to prepare young people for real-world challenges. At The Failure Institute, we are always looking to change how we see failures, especially among the younger ones. That’s why, together with a university in Mexico, we adapted our private event format for their high school students at the Chiapas Campus, organizing an event that really showed that mistakes are part of the road to success.
In this article, we’ll dive into the lessons learned, and how building resilience in students can positively transform educational experiences and prepare young minds for life’s inevitable challenges.
The Importance of Building Resilience in Students
Throughout my academic training (a few years ago 😂), it was very important to strengthen my critical thinking in order to overcome challenges, generate my own thoughts with the experiences and learning along the way.
For this reason, we jointly designed an event to teach students a new way of looking at business, where the mistakes told by its protagonists, can be a great opportunity to learn and improve.
A Student Event for the Entire Chiapas Community
This event was part of a comprehensive program for the students to help them explore different areas of business in a holistic way, while organizing the event themselves.
Empowering students through active participation
For four months, the students and their teachers worked hand in hand with The Failure Institute to make this possible. They were not only part of the audience, but also took on important roles as moderators, photographers and organizers. This gave them a full immersion in the experience of pivoting ideas and executing business.
Insights from the Speakers
The guest speakers had stories that resonated with the young people, talking not only about their business failures but also how these experiences related to their personal and professional lives.
Stories that resonate
We had the pleasure of welcoming:
- Ofelia Elena Vassallo – Entrepreneur focused on financial inclusion and education.
- Juan Carlos Cal y Mayor Selvas – Lawyer, singer and producer.
- Marcelino Turati – Serial entrepreneur with specialization in public policy.
Ofelia shared a perspective that resonated strongly with the students:
”Culturally we see failures and mistakes as entirely bad, when, while not 100% satisfying, they bring more positives than negatives.”
I also had the opportunity to tell you my story of failure in the entrepreneurial world… don’t worry, I will tell it to you in another blog post because today our protagonists are the students of the Chiapas Campus.
Key Outcomes: Building Resilience through Practical Experience
One of the most outstanding achievements of the event was that the students managed to recover 85% of the investment with ticket sales. This success demonstrated their commitment and ability to put business concepts into practice in real life, as well as highlighting the importance of teamwork and self-management.
Overcoming the fear of failure
One primary goal of the event was to confront and address one of teenagers’ biggest fears – the fear of failure and not being accepted by others. Together, we created a safe space where failure was seen as an opportunity to learn, something fundamental that I hope they will carry with them in all their future adventures.
Building a Future
This event at the Chiapas Campus is a clear example of how our events can change not only people but also the way of learning in educational institutions.
I’m truly grateful to the university and all the participants for opening themselves to this transformative experience and for letting us be part of their educational journey.
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