I received a rejection for a USC Alzheimer’s disease development grant yesterday. In many ways, I knew I was going to get rejected. I saw it coming from a mile away. I am a relatively new postdoc, the project proposal had some methodological flaws that I intuitively just knew sounded a bit off–but there was no logical way of correcting it–and on top of that, I had received advice from one of the grant’s administrators that the grant was likely going to get rejected because of logistical issues associated with timing. I would’ve been surprised to have received the grant.
Despite all of this, the rejection email still stung. I guess not as much as, say, getting rejected from your dream college in high school, which has happened to me as well, but still, it hurts to be told you were not the one selected. I imagine in any career that is worthy of pursuing, there will be moments like this until the day I retire, unless maybe I win a Nobel prize. But at the end of the day, what’s most important is how we respond to rejections and setbacks like these that matter. People who succeed in this world will use the energy associated with the disappointment of failure and strive for something more, something better, something greater.
The Ivory Tower 
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