📌 What is the single most important thing to do after getting rejected for a scholarship, admission, award, job, or anything you applied for, and were really hoping to get? We talked about it last week, remember?

💰 So I followed my own advice, didn’t judge my self-worth or my potential by the number of acceptances and rejections I got and did what any rational Ph.D. student would do, i.e., applied for more awards and scholarships. And guess what? I got one. But that isn’t the most amazing part of the story. The work for which I got this scholarship, was done ten years ago. No kidding!

🏆 It’s called the Women in Engineering Prize and it’s literally awarded to me for the volunteer work I carried out about ten years ago. Needless to say, the motivation behind any volunteer work should not be the awards, but a little appreciation of your work never hurts. Here’s a link with more information about this prize if you would like to apply.

🤴 You know the story about the King who asked for a phase that will make him happy when he is sad, and sad when he is happy? The phrase was “This too shall pass” or a variation of it. And that was the case with my little celebration. The next day I received this email.

😪 Which basically means I didn’t get the award I applied for. But if you have a research paper in the last year, there is nothing stopping you from applying for this award, is there? So now I should go back to my post from last week and read it to remind myself of the important lessons while facing a rejection.

Overall, one out of two in a week isn’t bad, right?

❤My Favourite Things

📝Quote:

Strategy without execution is hallucination. -Unknown

🔍I’m Learning:

Here’s what I’m learning in Ali Abdaal’s Part Time Youtuber Academy course. It’s the best course I have ever taken in my life, and I’m a Ph.D. student so you can imagine the number of courses I have taken in my life.


I see that you’ve made it to the end. If you liked this blog post, check out the other stuff I talk about on my YouTube Channel. Don’t forget to subscribe!😉

Sadia Khaf

A channel about higher education abroad, scholarships, and career advice. 

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