I make tonnes of mistakes.
Not every second of every day of my life, but while at work, I may spell something incorrectly, mess up a presentation slide, or mispronounce something when I'm teaching.
In my interactions with people, I may speak too quickly, say the wrong thing, or commit some social faux pas that I wasn't aware of.
Even while doing something as innocuous as ordering food, I may get a meat dish that's sweet (I know a lot of locals in SG love sweet sauces on meat dishes, but I hate them with a passion) or forget to tell the lady boss at the soy curd / drink stall to make mine with less sugar.
Each mistake I make gives me an opportunity to learn so I don't repeat it (until or unless it happens to slip my mind before I've formed a habit or I "get it").
I figured at some point that I should extend this opportunity to my students.
If they answer incorrectly, miss a step in their experiment that causes it to fail, or do the wrong thing at the wrong time, I get them to try again when they're ready.
Not all of them always take me up on my offer, but enough of them do that I've noticed it's not a trivial thing to them.
Perhaps they have always been harshly penalised for making mistakes, and this is a relief to them. I'm not sure.
Whatever the case, I want to keep giving them opportunities to learn and better themselves.
Because that's my job as an educator, isn't it?
First Time, Last Time? Not If You Have an Expert Guide!
It's scary being a first-timer.
Whether it's joining a new workplace, picking up a new hobby, or putting yourself out there on a social platform, it's all pretty daunting.
There are a thousand things to get wrong, and a thousand eyes watching you do it. At least that's what it feels like.
This is precisely when we need the experts, the old hands, the ones who have "been there, done that".
It's not that we can't figure it out for ourselves.
We just want to make fewer mistakes and rub fewer people the wrong way.
Experience Worth Sharing Isn't Always Glamorous
You've likely made some terrible mistakes in your journey to where you are today. At least in your eyes.
It could be something as simple as not using spellcheck on your resume when you first sent it out.
Or you may have forgotten to turn an important switch on at a manufacturing plant.
Whichever is closer to your case, if you've learned from them, and now avoid them like the plague, that's experience worth sharing.