My very first research project was an epic, total failure. As in, pretty much no data, no findings, absolutely nothing to show for it.

I won’t bog you down with details about the project, but long story short it centered on trapping invasive rats on an island to look at density. Soon after my project began, a drought killed off all the rats, and I was left with N=1 rat for my troubles. Not exactly groundbreaking, publishable findings there.

But that’s the thing about science: it is chock FULL of failure. Experiments fail, papers get rejected, grants don’t come through-there are countless ways we as scientists face failure and rejection every day.

Sometimes it is easy to get bogged down in our failures. And because our successes are public and our failures often private, we may find ourselves thinking we are the only one for whom things don’t work out.

But guess what: you are not alone! Women of Fisheries has had some great discussions about navigating failure and rejection, and members have shared some great advice: to start, remember that failure is part of success, and that successful people have probably failed a lot more than you know. When you are feeling down, step back and remind yourself why you do what you do, what brings you joy and what stokes your passion. This can help you remember why you are amazing and deserve to be where you are. And though it can be super hard to remember in the moment, when something doesn’t work out often a new opportunity is just around the corner (which may have not been possible if the first one worked out!).

Yes, failing and rejection sucks. But the only way to never fail is to never try. We can reframe our failures as a normal step in the process, a building block for future, and remind ourselves that we are amazing for having tried.

And my own research? Well I have faced A LOT of other failures since that first project (*there have been successes too of course). And not to sound too hokey, but I did learn a lot from each of them. Looking back, I know I got where I am today through failure as much as success.

So when you find yourself opening that rejection email or looking at your failed experiment, remember that you are not alone! Hang in there, persevere, and remember we are all in this together.