List of Failures
“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”
― Thomas A. Edison
This is a list of all the failures in my life that I can remember concretely. Some of them are small and some of them are big. Failure in life isn’t something we should hide and try to avoid. To me failures are badges of honor that you can wear proudly. Badges that say I tried, I failed and I moved on. That right there takes courage to wear. For this reason I am putting my failures on display. I hope I can continue adding to this list and I hope this helps you deal with your failures better. Maybe you can too make a similar list! Here’s a pdf of rejection letters I saved!
Failed to get admitted to IBA of Dhaka University in Bangladesh
Failed to get admitted to BUET in Bangladesh
Failed to get admitted to IUT in Bangladesh
Failed to reach the finals of GIST Tech-I 2015/2018 competition
Failed to get selected for UNLEASH Innovation Lab 2019.
Failed to work with Plaantik. (Succeeded the 2nd time a year later)
Failed to get APU Alumni Scholarship
Failed to get selected for Global Solutions Summit 2019.
Failed to pass the initial round of Seed Acceleration program 2018/2019. Local startup accelerator.
Failed to get selected for TYF 18/19 on “Bright Minds Reducing Inequalities.”
Failed to get selected for IDEA Asia Pacific Summer Camp 2018.
Failed to get a local English Teaching job.
Failed to get my working visa in Japan in the first try.
Failed to get selected for Cisco Global Problem Solver Challenge 2017/2018
Failed to get a part-time job as a APU Library staff
Failed to get selected as a TA for Kumon Camp.
Failed to get selected for ASEFSU22.
Failed to get selected as a TA for GEP English Camp.
Failed to get selected for Global Youth Summit.
Failed to get selected for AYFS 2018
Failed to get selected for 2018 Dalai Lama Fellow
Failed to get a job at Ritsumeikan APU 5 times and counting.
Failed to get selected for Google STEP Program
Failed to get selected for 3rd ASEF Young Leaders Summit
Failed to get selected for Future News Worldwide 2018
Failed to get selected for APCEIU’s 4th Youth Leadership Workshop on GCED
Failed to get selected for ACE Youth Forum Scholarships 2018
Failed to get selected for Sustainable Campus Idea Contest 2017
Failed to get selected for student organization ALRCS.
Failed to get selected for student organization SALC
Failed to pass final round of Mitsubishi Scholarship
Failed to pass final round of SATO Yo Scholarship
Failed to get selected for the ANDO Momofuku Honor Prize given to one final semester student in my university
Failed to start my own startup multiple times.
A lot of these might be small or insignificant. But that’s the true purpose of this list. Failures seem big when you are first hit with them. A lot of these hurt me in the moment, but slowly I realized failures come and go. Now when I look back on this list I smile!
*I have just included a bunch of the ones I remember. There have been a lot more small and big failures. I hope I can keep adding to this list!