The Power of One More Try

I was ready to give up.

Not dramatically. Not with some big announcement. Just quietly. Like turning off a light and walking away.

I'd applied to 46 graduate programs over two years. Forty-six rejections. Forty-six emails that started with "We regret to inform you..." Forty-six reminders that maybe I wasn't good enough, smart enough, special enough.

I was sitting at my kitchen table, staring at application number 47, when my roommate asked: "Are you really going to try again?"

I didn't have a good answer. Just exhaustion and a stubborn whisper that wouldn't shut up: One more time.

That whisper changed my life.

The Weight of Constant Rejection

People talk about resilience like it's easy. Like you just dust yourself off and try again with a smile.

But nobody talks about the crushing weight of repeated failure. How each rejection chips away at your confidence. How you start believing the world is trying to tell you something: Stop. You're not meant for this.

By rejection 30, I'd stopped telling people I was applying. The sympathetic looks were too much.

By rejection 40, I'd started planning backup careers I didn't want.

By rejection 46, I was numb. Going through the motions because I didn't know what else to do.

The only thing keeping me going was momentum. Not hope—just the inability to fully let go of something I'd wanted for so long.

The Application I Almost Didn't Submit

Application 47 was different only because I'd stopped caring.

I didn't obsess over every word. I didn't have ten people edit my essay. I didn't try to sound like someone I thought they wanted.

I was too tired for performance.

So I just... wrote honestly. About my struggles. About why I kept trying despite the rejections. About what this field meant to me, even if I never got accepted.

I hit submit at 11:47 p.m. on the deadline, then closed my laptop and went to bed, expecting nothing.

The Email That Changed Everything

Six weeks later, I got an email with a different opening line:

"Congratulations. We are pleased to offer you admission..."

I read it three times before it registered. Then I called my mom and sobbed—not pretty tears, but the ugly, guttural kind that come from years of pent-up hope and hurt.

Acceptance.

Not because application 47 was so much better than 1-46. But because I'd finally stopped trying to be someone else and just showed up as myself.

And this time, that was enough.

What I Learned From 47 Attempts

Here's the thing about "one more try" that nobody tells you:

It's never really about that one attempt. It's about what you become in the process of refusing to quit.

Those 46 rejections weren't failures. They were practice. They were refinement. They were teaching me resilience I didn't know I'd need.

They taught me that my worth isn't determined by acceptance letters. That persistence is more valuable than talent. That the only guaranteed failure is stopping.

Every "no" was bringing me closer to the right "yes"—not just any yes, but the one that actually fit.

The Success Hidden in Struggle

I'm in my second year of that program now.

Some days are hard. Some assignments feel impossible. But every time I want to quit, I remember: I tried 47 times to get here. I'm not giving up now.

And here's what's wild: several classmates got in on their first try. They're talented, brilliant people.

But when things get tough, I notice something. They struggle with rejection in ways I don't anymore. Because I've been rejected 46 times and survived. I know failure isn't fatal.

That resilience—that's the real gift those rejections gave me.

The Power You Don't Know You Have

If you're on your own attempt number 20, or 35, or 50—if you're wondering whether to try one more time—I can't promise you'll succeed.

But I can promise you this: every attempt is making you stronger than you realize.

You're building capacity for disappointment, which is also capacity for hope. You're developing persistence that will serve you long after this specific goal.

You're learning the most important lesson: you are not your rejections.

One More Try

I don't know what would have happened if I'd stopped at 46.

Maybe I would have found a different path. Maybe I would have been fine.

But I would have always wondered. And I would have missed discovering what I'm actually capable of when I refuse to quit.

So if you're standing at your own crossroads, staring at one more application, one more pitch, one more attempt—and you're wondering if you should try again:

Try.

Not because I can guarantee success. But because the version of you on the other side of "one more try" is stronger, wiser, and more resilient than the version who walks away.

The breakthrough you're looking for might be one attempt away.

But you'll never know unless you try.

Your Next Attempt Matters

Attempt 47 wasn't magical. It was just the one where I finally stopped quitting before I got to the answer I needed.

Your next try could be the one that changes everything.

Don't give up before you get there.

One more try. That's all you need to commit to right now.

Just one more.

The power isn't in perfection. It's in persistence.

Try again.

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Thank you for reading...

Regards: Fazal Hadi