“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is
always to try just one more time.” —Thomas Alva Edison
***
By now, it is widely recognized that Jessica Sanchez is the definitive champion of America’s Got Talent (AGT) 2025. Nevertheless, this triumph was not achieved overnight; it was the result of years filled with challenges and determination.
It is important to remember that she first participated in the inaugural season of AGT in 2006. At that time, she was merely 10 years old and became a wildcard semifinalist. Regrettably, she did not advance to the finals.
In 2012, she garnered international attention by competing in American Idol Season 11. However, following a surprising elimination, she was rescued by judges Jennifer Lopez, Randy Jackson, and Steven Tyler. Once again, she did not secure the victory, finishing as the runner-up to Phillip Phillips.
Despite all of these setbacks, she persevered in her career, launching her debut album titled “Me, You & The Music.” In addition, she made an appearance in the popular musical series Glee.
During her audition for the 20th anniversary season of AGT, Sanchez performed Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things,” a rendition that prompted Sofia Vergara to activate her golden buzzer.
In the grand finals, she delivered a performance of “Die With A Smile” by Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga, which earned her a standing ovation. As anticipated, she secured the $1 million grand prize, a trip to Universal’s Epic Universe theme park, and the admiration of fans globally.
“There are two kinds of success,” said American President Theodore Roosevelt. “One is the rare kind that comes to the person who has the power to do what no one else has the power to do. That is genius. But the average person who wins what we call success is not a genius. That person is a man or woman who has merely the ordinary qualities that they share with their fellows but has developed those ordinary qualities to a more than ordinary degree.”
Today’s generation may not hear of the true story of Milton, a man who was very familiar with failure. At age 19, he started his own confectionery business in Philadelphia. He worked so hard for six years, but the business did not do well that he had to give it up. He moved to Denver to work for another candy company.
Later on, Milton and his father started a candy company in Chicago – which failed. They went to New Orleans, where another venture failed. New York was next, and it, too, was a failure. But with so many failures behind him, he pressed on. After all, he said he learned so many things from his mistakes. “Failure is not fatal,” he told himself.
Milton, who treated obstacles as stepping stones instead of stumbling blocks, kept on learning about the confectionery trade, picking up many tricks and inventing new ones by constantly experimenting with formulas and processes. He began anew, opening the Lancaster Caramel Company in Pennsylvania in time for the Christmas trade.
It was a success! When he died in 1945, Milton Snavely Hershey – yes, that’s his complete name – was known throughout the world as the man who created Hershey’s Milk Chocolate.
But Milton was just one of the world’s most outstanding failures. There was this American guy who failed in business in 1831. In 1832, he ran for government office but emerged as a loser. In 1833, he again failed in business. In 1834, he was elected to the Legislature. In 1838, he was defeated for Speaker; in 1840 defeated for Elector; in 1843 defeated for Congress; in 1846 elected to Congress; in 1855 defeated for Senate; in 1856 defeated for Vice-President; in 1858 defeated for Senate; in 1860 elected to President of the United States. His name? Abraham Lincoln.
An unknown poet says it well: “When things go wrong as they sometimes will, when the road you’re trudging seems all uphill, when the funds are low and the debts are high, and you want to smile, but you have to sigh.”
“Rest if you must, but don’t you quit,” the poet continues. “Life is queer with its twists and turns, as every one of us sometimes learns, and many a failure turns about when he might have won had he stuck it out.”
The magic word here is persistence. That’s what Edison, Hershey, and Lincoln possessed. “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence,” declared American president Calvin Coolidge. “Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
“Many people fail in life because they believe in the adage: If you don’t succeed, try something else,” American author Don B. Owens, Jr. observed. “But success eludes those who follow such advice. Virtually everyone has had dreams at one time or another, especially in youth. The dreams that have come true did so because people stuck to their ambitions. They refused to be discouraged. They never let disappointment get the upper hand. Challenges only spurred them on to greater effort.”
The words of William A. Ward come in handy. “From failure can come valuable experience; from experience – wisdom; from wisdom – mutual trust; from mutual trust – cooperation; from cooperation – united effort; from united effort – success.”
