Lessons Learned from 2018

January 16, 2019

The beginning of each calendar year puts forth opportunities to reflect on the previous 12 months. At Fairmont, we believe it’s important to continually grow, whether it’s learning new things or realizing lessons learned through experiences. While it’s imperative to acquire new skills, it’s just as important to look inward in order to digest lessons from the self. After looking back at 2018 and feeling excited about 2019, we’ve put together a few topics that have really stood out to us.

Happiness can be found in small moments. It’s not always about the grandiose moments in our lives that define our happiness. Sometimes it’s about the smaller, more intimate moments like helping a friend study for a test, sitting with your peers on a normal day at lunch, or even the feeling of walking into your favorite class. It’s impossible for each and every moment to be a major event, so it’s important to find happiness in the small moments.

Be open to new ideas/change. We know this isn’t always easy. In fact, sometimes it can feel impossible. But think about where this world would be if no one was open to new ideas and/or pushing boundaries. Pretty meager, right? Now picture what your life would look like if you accomplished that thing you believe is impossible. Pretty awesome, right?

Don’t be in a rush to grow up. Whether you’re 16 or 60, we think that everyone should keep their inner child alive. Of course, the older you get the more responsibilities you acquire, but it’s still important to, every once in a while, put those responsibilities to the back of your mind and just enjoy the moment.

Failure is just a different style of teaching. It’s impossible to do everything perfectly your entire life. If you learn how to look at failure from a different perspective it will take you much farther than focusing on that fact that you’ve “failed.”

There may be an endless amount of lessons that we learned from 2018, but these four speak volumes when we consider how a single lesson can impact a person’s holistic self. And yes, we do think it’s important to recognize how studying, or lack thereof, can affect test scores etc., but we also believe that our students are much more than a test score or a number. That’s why it’s essential to reflect and find learnings that happen within and outside of the classroom.

ABOUT FAIRMONT SCHOOLS

Fairmont is Orange County’s oldest and largest secular, co-educational preschool – 12th-grade private school. Voted Best Private School in Orange County for nine consecutive years, Fairmont is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, and Cognia, and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools.

With five Orange County campuses serving preschool through high school students, parents can rely on a continuous education where students explore the full range of their potential as scholars, athletes, artists, and leaders. Students can expect to be challenged, inspired, and supported by teachers and peers. Parents can count on educators and administrators who will partner with them in their child’s educational journey.