because of the story behind its creation. It is a fantastic example of persistence, of not giving up, of problem solving and achievement.<\/span><\/p>\nIn 1953, Norm Larsen and a small team of engineers at the Rocket Chemical Company in San Diego set out to create a rust-prevention solvent for the aerospace industry. Their goal was to protect the outer skin of the rockets from corrosion.<\/span><\/p>\nThey tried once, but failed. They tried again. Failed. They tried many more times, going back to the drawing board, adjusting formulas and ratios but they continued to fail. They failed 39 times\u2026<\/span><\/p>\nBut on the 40th attempt, they got it – they mastered the formula and got it exactly right. That formula became WD-40, short for \u201cWater Displacement, 40th formula.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nMost people probably don\u2019t know what it stands for but today, WD-40 is used in homes, garages, and industries all over the world. It\u2019s a household name and I would guess that most families have a blue and yellow can of WD40 somewhere in their garages, sheds or cupboards. It still sells over 1 million cans a week! <\/span>WD40 has many more uses than was first intended – not only does it prevent rust but it reportedly has over 2000 uses. It fixes squeaky hinges, deters wasps, cleans paintbrushes, fixes stuck zippers and untangles jewellery and removes stains just to name a few\u2026<\/span><\/p>\nI really like this story, not because of the product itself, and that\u2019s not to say that WD40 isn\u2019t a fantastic and useful product but I like this story about Norm Larsen and his team b<\/span>ecause it is such a great example that people can do difficult things. And that failure, or not getting it just right the first, second, the twentieth or even the thirty ninth time is part of an important process and helps us to problem solve, to learn, to be more resilient and to grow.<\/span><\/p>\nWe live in a world that often celebrates instant success. Viral videos. Overnight fame. But we need to remember that most things do not come instantly and that we can do difficult things and that it may take time, persistence, grit and hard work. It may take several failures – these failures (or first attempts in learning) are still very valuable.<\/span><\/p>\nI asked the students to keep the WD40 story in the back of their minds as they start this new semester. As they are tackling a new maths problem or trying to perfect their technique on the free throw line, as they make some small errors in their science experiment, slightly overcook their pastry in Food Technology, not get the delicate stitching exact on their textiles garment, or not yet have the cadence of chords just as they need to be be in their musical performance\u2026I want them to think of Norm Larsen and his team and his persistence and grit. They did not give up\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIn fact, they were restless for success and excellence. My challenge to each of your daughters is that they are restless for excellence. MSCW is not a place where near enough is good enough and where we sit happy and content in our complacency. My wish is that each student is striving to be the best they can be. When I talk about being restless for excellence, this is something that can look different for each individual student and that is fine. It\u2019s not about achieving perfection or getting straight A\u2019s\u2026<\/span><\/p>\nWhen I talk about this I mean that each student should be eager, motivated, and hungry to work to the best of their ability to really reach their full potential. This is a crucial part of being restless for excellence and applies to every member of our MSCW community – students from years 7-12. Our staff are also restless for excellence, both within the work they do themselves and the way they guide, support, challenge and teach each student to grow to their full potential.<\/span><\/p>\nI firmly believe that every student at MSCW is capable of doing hard things. Hard or difficult doesn\u2019t mean impossible, in fact, hard or difficult often means it\u2019s worth it.<\/span><\/p>\nEvery time a student struggles, they\u2019re building strength. Every time they fail, they\u2019re learning. Every time they try again, they\u2019re growing. Failing at something isn\u2019t the end –\u00a0 It shows us what doesn\u2019t work so we can find what does.<\/span><\/p>\nNorm Larsen, the inventor behind WD-40, didn\u2019t see failure as defeat. He saw it as progress. He knew that each failed formula brought him one step closer to his goal, he was restless for excellence and success. That\u2019s the mindset we need and that\u2019s the mindset I have challenged every student to choose.<\/span><\/p>\nI have always believed the education and growth of your daughters is a partnership between school and home. I urge parents and carers to encourage their daughters to be restless for excellence and to always try to work to their personal best. To be bold, brave and empowered to do difficult things. It may not come instantly for your daughters but that’s ok. They may need to try a number of times, just like Norm Larsen. But just about everything that is worth it takes effort and hard work and each of them can do it – they can do difficult things\u2026<\/span><\/p>\nI look forward to seeing the wonderful things our MSCW students will achieve as they are challenged to be restless for excellence and firm in the belief that they can do difficult things\u2026<\/span><\/p>\nGod bless.<\/span><\/p>\nMs Rachel Sampson, Principal<\/em><\/i><\/div>\nThis article on College life meets The Archbishop’s Charter for Catholic Schools – Charter #1, #2, #8\u00a0<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As a Catholic school in the tradition of the Marist Sisters, service is more than just an expectation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12451,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","article_category":[],"article_tag":[],"class_list":["post-14099","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mscw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/14099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mscw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mscw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mscw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14099"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mscw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mscw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mscw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_category?post=14099"},{"taxonomy":"article_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mscw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_tag?post=14099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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