Dr. Gustavo M. Schuenemann, Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, The Ohio State University
Have you ever had multiple setbacks? Have you ever lost motivation and felt unable to move forward? Or have you ever wondered what helps some people turn setbacks into progress? If your answer is “YES” to any of these questions, this article is for you. I am a large animal veterinarian and Extension specialist, and most of my writing focuses on dairy farming, animal health, and herd management. However, over the years, I have come to realize that beyond the technical aspects of agriculture, the way individuals respond to setbacks and learning plays an equally important role in overall growth. In this article, I would like to explore that perspective further, drawing on my experiences as a father, educator, and mentor.
Talent is global; opportunities are not. As educators, we play an important role in helping to create those opportunities by teaching not only the subject matter, but also the process of learning. I have been teaching and working with students, professionals, and farm personnel for over two decades. Over the years, I often hear mentees express frustration or self-doubt when facing challenges. And that is normal when facing uncertainty. Throughout these years, I have worked with individuals from very diverse backgrounds, including individuals with visual impairments or low literacy (unable to write or read). Yet one thing consistently stands out: regardless of barriers or starting point, people have the capacity to learn, and learning is a powerful source of motivation and transformation.
One of my greatest satisfactions is seeing my mentees, both in the classroom and on the farm, develop the confidence to think independently, solve problems on their own, and continue learning beyond the classroom. When individuals understand the process of learning, they begin to change the way they face uncertainty, challenges, and ultimately, their future. Learning requires stepping outside of the comfort zone and facing uncertainty, and that is precisely where growth happens. Confidence does not appear before the challenge; it appears after confronting and overcoming challenges repeatedly. Over the years, I also realized that several important questions appear repeatedly, although they are rarely discussed openly.
What is Learning?
Learning is a continuous process of acquiring knowledge, developing skills, and adapting through experience, mistakes, reflection, and persistence. It is an active process that requires a significant amount of energy, discipline, and commitment. Beyond learning technical knowledge and skills, the real challenge comes when the context changes, when mistakes happen, when there are no clear answers, and when decisions must be made under uncertainty. That is where memorizing and truly learning become very different things.
What is Luck?
In businesses, agriculture, and everyday life, it is common to hear outcomes attributed to “luck”, whether it is market, weather, or circumstances beyond our control. Over 2000 years ago, a Roman philosopher named Seneca defined luck as what happens where preparation meets opportunity. Opportunities exist all the time, but only those who are prepared are able to recognize them. Two individuals can face the exact same situation and see completely different things: one sees a problem, while the other sees an opportunity. It is also true that preparation does not always guarantee immediate success. However, it dramatically increases the ability to recognize and act when opportunities appear. In many cases, what individuals describe as “luck” is simply years of preparation, persistence, and hard work becoming visible at the right moment.
What is Success?
Success is not being afraid of failure, because success is a process of small failures, adjustments, and continuous learning. In over 20 years mentoring students, farm personnel and professionals, I have seen many individuals move from failure to success: students who struggle with exams, researchers whose experiments did not work as planned, professionals who learned from mistakes, and farmers or entrepreneurs who faced multiple setbacks before eventually succeeding. However, long-term growth usually begins when individuals take ownership of their learning, decisions, and actions. In my experience, the most meaningful progress happens when people focus less on external circumstances and more on what they can learn, change, and improve. The individuals who make the greatest progress, at a personal or professional level, are not necessarily the most intelligent. Often, they are the ones who developed the resilience to make mistakes, learn from them, and continue moving forward.
Is Learning a Linear Process?
One of the most common misconceptions is believing that learning happens in an orderly sequence: first understanding, then applying, and finally mastering. In real life and in practice, the process often works in reverse:
- First, we try.
- Then, we fail.
- Next, we understand why we failed.
- We adjust.
- And we try again.
- This cycle repeats itself constantly.
That is why mistakes are not a deviation from learning; mistakes are part of the learning process. The problem is not failure itself; the real problem is failing to develop a system for interpreting and overcoming mistakes. When people avoid making mistakes, they also avoid growth. In contrast, when mistakes are properly analyzed, they become extremely valuable information:
- They reveal what does not work;
- Expose incorrect assumptions;
- Force us to adjust our thinking; and
- Improve decision-making.
This is especially important in agriculture and food systems, where variability and uncertainty are part of everyday reality. Today, access to information is no longer the primary challenge; information is everywhere. The real difference lies in who can process information critically, sort facts from fiction, adapt, and continue learning independently.
The Bottom Line
After over 20 years of teaching, perhaps the most important lesson to share is this: No one develops confidence by avoiding challenges. Confidence appears after facing difficulties, making mistakes, correcting them, and trying again many times. Keep working, do not give up: fall five times, get up six. Learning is possible regardless of background or barriers; however, real learning goes far beyond memorization. True learning happens when individuals actively engage in the process, develop the ability to think independently, understand deeply, solve problems, adapt to uncertainty, and continue growing through experience. Ultimately, it gives individuals the freedom to keep learning, adapting, and growing.