From the Nominator

Most alumni magazines are filled with stories about success. They laud alumni at the top of their fields and celebrate big wins. Dig beneath the surface of any successful person, however, and you’ll find lots of examples of failure. It’s in those moments that we learn important lessons about grit and perseverance and what it takes to move forward. We knew from previous stories and social media posts that Georgia Tech alumni often point to their experience at school as one of the most difficult challenges in their lives. We knew they experienced failure as students and that they valued those lessons almost as much as their degrees. So we devoted an entire issue to candidly exploring failure. Our failure issue was a huge success. From our “failed” cover, which intentionally looked like a printer error, to the frank essays written by alumni on moments of failure in their own professional and personal lives, we aimed to destigmatize the topic and open a two-way conversation with our alumni. We accomplished this by tackling the topic from a variety of angles. Our main feature included six essays from alumni about different types of failure they had experienced. One alumna talked about the perceived failures she faced in a workplace while she supported her mother during a health situation. Another spoke about dropping out of college to take care of his family. These personal essays became the fourth highest-performing editorial of the year.

From the Judges

Georgia Tech did an excellent job with this magazine. We loved the idea for this special issue. The feature delivers well on the promise. The special section is nicely designed and cohesive. It's a fun issue that captures the reader's attention.