If you hate your research, don’t think about quitting. You are likely on the verge of tremendous growth as a scholar.

I heard a really poignant question the other day. The person, in a top STEM PhD program, was describing how utterly unprepared they felt for graduate school. Coursework had been easy, but they believe they were terrible at designing experiments and much less productive than their peers. They were having trouble concentrating and getting anything done. Should they cut their losses and leave?

The sooner you realize that rejections are a large part of doing research and not direct measures of your skill or potential, the happier you’ll be. You’ll probably improve faster as a scientist too…