Achieving success takes hard work and perseverance, but another crucial ingredient is the ability to learn from failure. Instructors must encourage students to make mistakes within the classroom so they will attempt great things outside it. This is where the freedom of trial and error should be championed, to be able to hone students' skills so that when they leave, they thrive. The 21st-century learner has a great advantage over previous generations when it comes to the ability to fail and learn from it. Today's student is able to fail using technology and gain more insight than other generations because they are willing to try something and see what the outcome is without fear. Previous generations had to be so worried about the technology itself that exploration was stunted. The working world looks for people who can overcome failures and setbacks for their employers through critical thinking and problem solving. (Contains 5 endnotes.)