Learning to Fail, Learning to Rise

iSpark welcomed back alumni Toh En Yu Dylan (4H1, 2020) and Javen Justin Suki (4H, 2020) for a candid sharing on resilience, failure and growth. Dylan, HCI’s 63rd President’s Scholar, is currently pursuing Data Science and Humanities at the University of California, Berkeley, while Javen is reading Law at University College London and serves as President of the UCL Singapore Society. Both were active student leaders in Hwa Chong, with Dylan serving in both the High School and College Student Councils, and Javen having served as President of both Councils. In the reflection below, Aiden shares how their experiences of setbacks and recovery reshaped his understanding of failure and what it means to keep moving forward.

Written by: Aiden Samuel Beng (1i2, 2026)

On 20 August 2026, during the iSpark Term 3 consortium assembly, we welcomed back two iSparkians, Toh En Yu Dylan and Javen Justin Suki. I remember expecting another simple sharing. What I did not expect was a masterclass in how to face failure and emerge from it with greater resilience.

Rather than beginning with advice, Dylan and Javen spoke candidly about their own experiences.

Dylan reflected on a major academic setback he faced while in school, one so significant that it threatened his sense of identity as both a councillor and a student. He described it as a very low point in his life and one of the failures he still remembers most vividly.

Javen, on the other hand, recounted how he was unable to answer a simple question during a scholarship interview. The interviewer’s blunt response shook his confidence, and being rejected from the scholarship was especially difficult when he saw many of his friends receiving offers. Hearing two accomplished alumni speak so openly about their setbacks was deeply grounding.

Dylan described school as a “sandbox”, a relatively safe environment where failure often comes with manageable consequences and gives us room to recover, learn and try again. He contrasted this with the larger and more complex challenges that can arise in adulthood. He also emphasised the importance of seeking support from others, explaining how the people around him played an important role in helping him recover and grow.

Javen shared two quotes that stayed with me: “Life can only be understood backwards, but must be lived forwards” and “Rejection is redirection”. To me, these ideas captured the message that setbacks are an inevitable part of life, and that what matters is how we respond to them and what we choose to learn.

To conclude the session, Javen and Dylan reminded us that resilience does not mean ignoring disappointment. Instead, it means allowing ourselves to acknowledge it before finding the courage to move forward. This resonated strongly with the Hwa Chong spirit of 自强不息 and deepened my understanding of continuous self-improvement. They reminded me that tenacity lies not in avoiding difficulties, but in continuing to learn and persevere through them.

For me, the talk offered fresh and meaningful insights into a topic that is often difficult to discuss openly: failure. We frequently hear about success, but far less about the setbacks that precede it. Dylan and Javen’s willingness to speak honestly about their own experiences made the session especially powerful.

My biggest takeaway came from a simple mindset expressed by Dylan: “Don’t count on your successes, don’t think your failures are fatal.” To me, this captures the importance of not becoming overly fixated on either success or failure. Instead, we should learn from both and continue moving forward. I sometimes make the mistake of dwelling too much on outcomes, so this message resonated deeply with me.

Reflecting on the session, I feel that I now have a clearer understanding of how to face setbacks. Ironically, I may even be a little less afraid of the failures that lie ahead. After all, learning from failure is part of what shapes resilient people and strong leaders.

At the end of the day, it is not our flawless victories that define us, but how boldly we stand back up when we fall.