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. You can read more about the origin of the initiative in our first newsletter.

“The irony is that we disown our difficult stories to appear whole or more acceptable but our wholeness – even our wholeheartedness – actually depends on the integration of all of our experiences including the falls.”

Brené Brown

Contributing Stories to Flipping Failure

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. 

Click here if you are interested in contributing your story to Flipping Failure in the near future. We will contact you when the next opportunity arises.