Learners who have struggled along the way can provide many lessons for everyone and for schools that are supposed to help all students learn. Based on interviews with hundreds of "great learners," the author identifies seven characteristics that describe what sets great learners apart from other learners. These are: (1) Great learners see learning as pleasurable and value and cherish this pleasure; (2) Great learners are effort theorists who have learned the hard way that effort is more important than "inborn" ability; (3) Great learners tend to have a strengths-based view of themselves and others, focusing on what they are good at instead of what they do not do so well; (4) Great learners practice letting go of negative emotions, of flipping the script on what might be regarded as a failure; (5) Great learners are unusual problem solvers who know how to ask for help and who excel at reframing their difficulties; (6) Great learners do not let the institution of school define them, instead, they practice "adaptive distancing"; and (7) Great learners have passions. [This article originally appeared in the September 2011 issue of "Phi Delta Kappan." A list of references can be found at www.kappanmagazine.org.]