This conference presentation proposes to illustrate that achievement is borne of failure, with stories shared in the hopes of encouraging, supporting, and affirming our work to emphasize the invaluableness of resilience. My “comeback” stories are told through a series of curated vignettes designed to highlight the setbacks and disappointments that accompanied key steps during my career as a chemist in the academic sector, including rejection of my undergraduate research manuscript (only to be scooped later), rejection of a National Science Foundation grant (only to have the subject selected for Sci-Mix later), and rejection of an application for promotion to full professor (status pending re-application). The framework for these vignettes was crafted while preparing a pre-graduation speech, itself not conceived as a reflection on resilience – indeed, the invitation resulted from receiving an award. What does one say, as an award-winner, to a group of seniors whose signature achievement is being celebrated? Although it is an honor to be invited, these speaking opportunities are fraught with a series unanswerable questions, piled atop a list of known pitfalls. Additionally, the audience members – comprised of the graduates, their families, and your peers – have much on their minds, and much of that has nothing to do with your prepared remarks. My answer to the question of what to say became simply: In honor of your accomplishments, I will tell you the tale of mine, and then adroitly draw parallels between your accomplishments and mine. In brief, this approach failed. Miserably. The rejected drafts of my remarks disappointingly embraced all of the projected pitfalls, further laden under the weight of the projected trials inherent in adult life. A new question emerged: What lessons could I impart that might be useful in the longer term? Finally, a satisfying draft was crafted from a reconstructed perspective in which my vignettes were focused not on achievement itself but onto the resilience that played a key role in overcoming the setbacks or failures intrinsic to the quest for achievement. Thus contextualized, these stories of “my errors, mistakes, and disappointments, and how I overcame them” resonated with the graduates, more so with their parents, and also with my peers. In closing, what does one say to a group of graduates who have arrived at their signature achievement? This worked: by resilience we got this far; by resilience we will further achieve.

You win an award and thus address the graduates: Resilience is a memorable message

ACS Fall 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.