Edit: you can disregard this comment now as the article and title are updated to the (much better) originals.

It's a good story, but the title is fairly misleading. It sounds like he did "mess up" a few times. But ultimately he persevered thanks to a tenacious teacher. It seems the real message is to keep pushing forward, even if you stumble.

Clicking through to the original Medium article suggests that Vox is responsible for the title since the original is much better.