I've been reading the biography of Einstein by Walter Isaacson and I'm fascinated by all the various aspects of Einstein's life.
There are so many things about Einstein that we never learn in formal education and from mass media.
People tend to portray Einstein as a mad genius who had crazy grey hair and was holed up in a lab running experiments, but that actually isn't very accurate.
Back in the years before Einstein was well-known, he had a young son and he worked as a patent examiner in a Swiss patent office. He worked a typical 8 hour a day cubicle job.
What was different about Einstein than his fellow colleagues? Einstein had an incredible work ethic:
"His productivity was startling. In addition to working six days a week at the patent office, he continued his torrent of papers and reviews: six in 1906 and ten more in 1907. At least once a week he played in a string quartet. And he was a good father to the 3-year-old son he proudly labeled "impertinent."
"Beginning in the summer of 1907, Einstein also found time to dabble in what might have become, if the fates had been more impish, a new career path: as an inventor and salesman of electrical devices like his uncle and father."
In this time period, Einstein was working on so many projects at the same time and on top of all of that he still held down a normal 9-5 job and provided for his family and took care of them.
Kind of funny when you hear people complain that they don't have time after work to do simple things like go to the gym or read books or pick up hobbies or what have you.
In addition to all of this incredible stuff that Einstein was working on, he was also hopeful that he would move away from the patent office and work in academia. He tried numerous times to get a job anywhere in the industry, but nobody would accept him.
There was one job that he applied for in which he would be basically at the lowest rung of academia as a "privatdozent" which is basically the starter position for anyone trying to penetrate that field.
Along with his application, he sent in seventeen of his published papers, "including the ones on relativity and light quanta."
Most people applying for such a position would also have to write a thesis paper, but the requirement was sometimes waived for people with "other outstanding achievements."
I would, and I think you would too, say that Einstein had PLENTY of "other outstanding achievements".. I mean, this is the guy who had just upended the entire physics community and these papers would change the very way that we understand the universe.
But it was apparently not enough, they rejected the waiving of the thesis for Einstein despite his achievements. "Not surprisingly, Einstein considered the matter 'amusing.' He did not write the special [thesis] or get the post."
Through all these challenges, Einstein prevailed. He showed us that anything is possible with passion and creativity and there is no room for excuses on the journey to success. Keep trying and keep trying. Don't be afraid of rejection, it will only make you stronger!!