Flipping Failure

We’ve all felt “less than” at some point—not smart enough, not talented enough. But we’ve found that learning from our failures helps us grow.

About

TLL’s Flipping Failure initiative is a collection of stories told by MIT students about their paths toward resilience when faced with challenges at MIT.

The goal of this community initiative is to provide visibility to stories of academic challenge and resilience so that we can begin shifting the conversation around struggle from a source of shame to a source of learning and growth. We appreciate the complexity of failure and the diversity of students’ experiences with it, particularly in the ways that structural barriers can create or exacerbate students’ challenges.

The Flipping Failure project aims to provide a safe space for students to tell their own stories, as they see them, and to increase students’ self-efficacy and agency during difficult times. We hope that hearing peers talk about their struggles and the adaptive strategies they used to cope will help other students find and navigate their own path through challenges with resilience and self-compassion.

Flipping Failure was inspired by research demonstrating that students’ sense of belonging improves when they hear peers’ stories of challenge and reframe their own struggles as a normal part of academic transitions.

As of 2023, twenty-three undergraduate and graduate students have generously shared their experiences of challenge and coping across the varied academic landscape. To hear their stories, visit Flipping Failure’s website.

Contribute Your Story

All Flipping Failure participants receive coaching on how to craft and tell a compelling story, typically during a multi-day workshop that includes lessons on storytelling, wellness activities, and time to iterate and get feedback on their stories. Participants own their narratives, determining what they include in their stories and approving final edits before stories are posted.

If you would like to contribute your story to Flipping Failure’s collection, click here to find out when the next storytelling workshop will be offered.