a text convo on failure by Kanokwan T. '25

and other stuff i guess

My friend Miguel T. ’25 and I were texting about random stuff this morning, and failure came up. I thought to share some excerpts with you.

M

K

2:46 AM

Where is sunrise⁠01 im hosting a sunrise watch party as part of my birthday festivities. <a href="https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/i-watched-the-sunrise-this-morning/">i love sunrises</a> lol happening?

7 terrace

❤️​ to “ 7 terrace ”

Do you want me to wake you if you’re not up lol

(okay if not, just thought to offer)

I’ll probably be awake still lmao
It’s probably fineeee

Lmfao same

I think I’m not going back to bed

I had a weird series of naps

What are you up for?
Ah I see

Not for something yeah
Just like… I’m up lol

Nice

I forgot to take my sleep meds too
So if I take them now, I would really struggle to wake for the sunrise
Are you up for something?

Writing a bunch of MISTI⁠02 the mit global experience/travel abroad program essays and stuff

Bruh
What

Nothing serious just chilling and working
This last week has been insane so I’m just now catching up on life and other tasks

What essays?
Like you’re already in a Misti right⁠03 i knew he was already doing misti for iap (our january month off) so i was confused on why he was applying for another misti. turns out, miguel is thinking of misti also for the summer
omg so real

This is for summer
I’m in the IAP program

Ohhhhh
You plan to do misti after graduating?

Yeah
At least for now

same
Yah (+same at the second text)
Where do you wanna go

Lol guess

Ok weeb⁠04 hes going to japan okay

🤭

I’ll probably be in DC or cali this summer
Depends on what program(s) accept me

Valid

The meme humorously depicts the chaotic and overwhelming experience of trying to study. In the first panel, a head filled with red scribbles is captioned "I just need to study," symbolizing mental clutter and stress. The second panel shows a frustrated person lying down, thinking the same phrase, while a looping set of arrows around the word "study" represents a procrastination cycle. In the final panel, the individual sits engulfed in a messy scribble of stress, with another stick figure peeking in and asking, "Are you okay, bro?" The stressed individual responds, "Yes, I just need to study," highlighting the relentless and exhausting loop of overthinking and pressure to focus.
Thought you might enjoy this meme

❤️​ to a photo
Lmao
That’s what it feels like

It’s almost over thank fucking god

I need a break 😭😭😭
Yeah

1 week.

005 and that’s it

We gotta pass bro

Watch me fail again⁠05 both of us failed 2.005: Thermal-Fluids Engineering (a class) last semester. long story that i dont feel like telling in full right now. tldr: it was just SO frustrating feeling like i knew the content and consistently demonstrated that i did, but that understanding was not being reflected in my final grade. i had literally never failed a class nor scored this low in my entire life. this class is also notorious for failing students and having them retake it.

We should study together
No Miguel

That is a good idea

I believe in us
That would be really funny tho

I haven’t attended lecture in a long time
I’m gonna grind catch up these next few days

Me too but like we have the [lectures from last semseter] burned into our brains

Then hard practice test vibes next week

Yeah me too

 ​👍​ to “ Me too but like we have the [lectures from last semseter] burned into our brains ”
😂😂😂

Let’s be so fucking for real
[We] deserved to pass that class [last semester]

👍​ to “ [We] deserved to pass that class  [last semester]”

whatever
This’ll make a good blog

Lmaoooooo

Not the best coping mechanism but it is unquestionably effective to glamorize my failings lmfao
Weirdly vulnerable but also liberating

 ​😭​ to “ Not the best coping mechanism but it is unquestionably effective to glamorize my failings lmfao ”
That’s cool

I mean and I mostly do it because I know others go through it too but they feel like they fail alone
I was one of those people

 ​👍​ to “ I mean and I mostly do it because I know others go through it too but they feel like they fail alone ”
Yeah

And I just wanna scream NO there’s a bunch of us out here struggling don’t worry bro

I was also in that boat
I saw a similar essay once
It was nice

Mhmm yeah I think we talked about it
Some past blogs about failing classes and stuff
Man I cried over those

 ​👍​ to “ Man I cried over those  ”
Yeah same lol

I was like… ok. I’m not the dumbest person alive maybe. Cool

Yeah

not to be soap-boxy but

 

you are not alone in failing
failure is simply just a part of life
it will happen
again and again

 

i will fail
you will fail
we will all fail

 

as the cheesy self-help quotes go…
“failure is not the opposite of success—it’s part of success”
“you can’t learn without failing”
“failure is not falling down but refusing to get up”
“failing to attempt is the biggest failure of life”
“there is no such thing as failure—you either get what you wanted or the lesson you needed”
“learn to fail or fail to learn”

 

blah blah blah

 

so it goes⁠06 one of my favorite <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/literature/comments/1xqvum/why_does_vonnegut_say_so_it_goes_so_insanely_often/">vonnegut-isms</a>

P.S. Flipping Failure is a good hub of failure stories. I watch some every now and then when I’m feeling down, and they help.

  1. im hosting a sunrise watch party as part of my birthday festivities. i love sunrises lol⁠ ↑
  2. the mit global experience/travel abroad program⁠ ↑
  3. i knew he was already doing misti for iap (our january month off) so i was confused on why he was applying for another misti. turns out, miguel is thinking of misti also for the summer⁠ ↑
  4. hes going to japan okay⁠ ↑
  5. both of us failed 2.005: Thermal-Fluids Engineering (a class) last semester. long story that i dont feel like telling in full right now. tldr: it was just SO frustrating feeling like i knew the content and consistently demonstrated that i did, but that understanding was not being reflected in my final grade. i had literally never failed a class nor scored this low in my entire life. this class is also notorious for failing students and having them retake it.⁠ ↑
  6. one of my favorite vonnegut-isms⁠ ↑