“Our business in life is not to succeed but to continue to fail in good spirits” Robert Louis Stevenson

“Get up! Get up!” It’s time for school!” shouted Mum. 

Amber quickly got up from bed and went to get ready. She was excited and also scared of her third year of high school at Pesega College. She was excited to make new friends, but she was also fearful of the new changes and challenges that would come her way. She wasn’t very bright but she always tried her best. 

“This year will be a tough one!” said Sister Smith.

After that, Amber felt like bombs were exploding inside of her. Last year, she didn’t do a good job, so her grades were low. She was hoping that she would do well in the mid-year exams this year. 

“Amber, last year wasn’t the best for you,” said Sister Smith. “I hope you can do better.” 

“Yes, Sister, I’ll try my best,” replied Amber. 

Days went by and homework and assignments kept on coming. Amber didn’t really do well with her quizzes as well, she was always behind. If she wasn’t last, she was second last. When she got her results, she was very upset, because she wanted to do better so that she could make her family proud. Little did she know, the real problem was herself. She didn’t have enough motivation and determination to be able to accomplish the things she wanted to achieve.

Just like that, term two started and it was time to prepare for mid-year exams. 

“Amber, you still haven’t improved!” said Sister Smith with a demanding tone. “If you want to pass, you better up your game!”

She felt guilty and embarrassed, the look on her face was as if she was going to cry. It was only a week before exams and everyone was getting ready for it. No one dared to miss school, because it was review week and they didn’t want to miss anything!

Amber started worrying because she knew that she wasn’t ready; she hadn’t studied for any subject and she still hadn’t passed any of her quizzes yet. “How in the world am I going to pass?” she said to herself as if she was going to lose her mind. Now, it was only one night until exams and she couldn’t sleep peacefully without thinking about her exams. It was like a nightmare.

“Rise and shine, we don’t want to be late for exams!” said Mum. 

Amber got up and it felt like she hadn’t slept the whole night. She probably didn’t sleep because she was too worried about the exams. She walked into the classroom and everyone was ready.

“You will have one hour and a half to complete your exam," said the exam supervisor. Amber took one glance at the exam paper and her brain went blank. Her heart started beating faster. She did not remember anything and knew deep down inside that she wasn’t going to pass. 

She continued to do this with her other exams. 

“You will be getting the results of all your exams next week,” said Sister Smith.

The bell rang and the kids rushed to their classrooms, ready to see their results. The only person who wasn’t looking forward to it was Amber. Sister Smith then called out her name. Sister Smith didn’t look too happy. Right away, she knew what that look meant. 

Amber only passed one subject out of six subjects and she didn’t know how to feel. Tears started to fall down her cheeks because she really wanted to make her parents and family proud. As soon as she got home, she was called by her Mum. 

“So, how was it?” said Mum.

Amber pulled out the exam papers and put them on the table. Mum did not know what to say as she was shocked by the results. Instead, she told Amber that it’s all part of learning and that it’s okay to make mistakes. She just needed to try harder and believe in herself. Her family supported her no matter what.

It was Friday, the last day of the term and the school had a Careers Day, where people from different sectors went to the school to share information about what they do to give the kids an idea of what they want to be in the future. It was now time for the guest speaker to give his speech. 

A famous writer shared his experience about his journey as a high school student. He talked about how he failed so many times but he never gave up. He encouraged students to keep trying no matter how hard things get. He also said, “The only person that is stopping you from achieving what you want is yourself!” he then ended his speech with a quote from a famous writer of Samoa, Robert Louis Stevenson, who said, “Our business in life is not to succeed but to continue to fail in good spirits.”

Amber listened very carefully to his speech and it really inspired her. She suddenly changed the way she thought and learned and started to be more focused and aim higher. She also started to accept her failures and used them to push herself further.

There were times when she fell, but she always made sure she got back up. Amber received her quiz results and she was still getting low marks. She just smiled and kept on trying. She started to improve and so did her grades in school. Receiving her quiz results, surprisingly she passed all of them.

“Amber, you’re doing a great job!” said Sister Smith, with a big smile on her face. Amber realised that the only person who was stopping her from achieving her goals was herself. 

Amber continued to walk this path and stayed focused throughout the whole year. She was able to pass her final exams and this made her family more prouder. 

A year passed, and just like that, Amber was getting ready to graduate. She graduated as a high honours student which made her proud and most importantly her family even prouder. 

In life, it is important that we don’t give up easily when things get tough. We should never underestimate the abilities and skills that we have. 

Do not be afraid to take the hard and long way. Amber had learnt her lesson and she continued to use it throughout her academic life, we all shouldn’t be afraid to fail; just like Robert Louis Stevenson said, “Our business in life is not to succeed but to continue to fail in good spirits!” 

• Angelina Schuster is a Year 11 student at the Church College, Pesega. This literary piece earned her 2nd place in the Year 11 English Category of the Samoa Observer Short Story Competition.