Welcome to our first blog post! This is written by Eli Hanechak, a coach at sciencefair.io.

Eli Hanechak has already made an indelible mark in the world of science. A 2nd place winner at the prestigious International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), Eli's journey into research and innovation has been anything but easy—but that's exactly why her story is one every aspiring scientist needs to hear. Let Eli's story inspire and guide you as you embark on your own science fair journey.

The First Step in the Science Fair: Stop Being Afraid of the Hard Stuff

When I gave my first talk to a group of high school and middle school students about getting involved in research, I was speaking with two other students who have also been through the research process. They had very different journeys than I did, especially in terms of how much help they were given, and it irked me that they were telling all of these students coming from nothing that getting involved in research isn’t that hard. I also felt like a downer because I followed up all of their comments with one of my own that was much more pessimistic, and thus felt like the tether to reality for this particular webinar.

Allow me to be the tether for you, as well: this is going to be one of the hardest things you do. The sooner that you come to terms with that, the more successful you will be.

I will give you some examples from my own science fair journey. I started doing research when I was 14, mostly because I was extremely bored at school and I saw research as a potential challenge to supplement my education. But… I had absolutely zero connections to any science professionals, had no family that went to college, did not go to a school or live in an area with any robust science programs…the list goes on, and I found myself white-knuckling through cold emails and fruitless Zoom meetings trying to convince people that I and my research were worth taking a chance on.

But, fast forward, I am now a 17-year-old internationally recognized student scientist, who has worked in three different university research labs (including one at MIT), attended multiple national science conferences, and has a patent pending on her research. So the hard work really does pay off, especially when you have to build yourself and your project from the ground up.

If you have a community that is helpful and loving and promotes your desire to start research, that is fabulous. But you still need to take it upon yourself to seize the opportunities that are given to you. If your school offers a good internship program, take it. If your uncle is a scientist, ask him if you can come observe at the lab, or maybe even start your own project in that dark, unused corner. At a certain point, being born into an advantageous situation is not enough to guarantee success; you need to earn it, and it will be hard. For others, who are not part of these supportive, scientific communities, you have an even longer battle ahead of you. You are going to write so many cold emails you will lose count, and you will probably get an equal number of rejections back. You will be disrespected and looked down on as a young person entering STEM, because if established scientists can be anything, it’s snooty.

You need to figure out right away if doing research is important to you. Ignore outside factors, and ask yourself if this project will fulfill you. At the end of the day, a pushy parent or the promise of a good college acceptance is enough for some things, but it won’t be enough to keep you going during a grueling, long-term, high-level research project. Your motivation needs to come from within, from you. That is the only thing that will keep you determined enough that when everything feels like it’s on fire and stupid and not working, you keep going.

And of course, one of the most important things to remember as you navigate this journey is that failure is in fact a part of the process. When you're knee-deep in data, struggling to get your experiment to work, or staring at a list of rejections, it’s easy to think you’re failing. But this is where you can learn your most valuable lessons. I’ve had experiments fail in ways I couldn’t predict, but each failure taught me something new about my methodology, my approach, and my perseverance. Instead of viewing setbacks as roadblocks, try to reframe them as opportunities to improve and grow. It’s not about getting things perfect the first time; it’s about learning from your mistakes and adapting. In the end, those failures are just stepping stones on your path to success.

There will be moments when you feel like you're fighting an uphill battle and you question why you’re even doing this in the first place. But trust me when I say that every scientist, from the most famous, to the youngest, to the most unknown, all have those kinds of moments. The difference between those who succeed and those who don’t is not how many times they struggle—it’s their ability to keep going when things get tough. So, when the going gets rough, remember to be open to learning, and let the hard moments fuel your passion for discovery. That’s how real scientists are made—through perseverance, grit, and an unrelenting curiosity to learn more.

If you are one of the few who will continue the science fair journey despite my rather bleak description of the hard work it takes, I urge you to view each new task as a thrill, an exciting challenge to face and to overcome, something fascinating that you will be able to tell ISEF judges about when they ask you what the hardest part of your project was. Remember that it would not be a real science project if it did not challenge you brutally, and be happy that you can consider yourself a true scientist because of the trials and tribulations that you have endured.

I wish you the best of luck; just remember that you can do it.

Eli is a coach at sciencefair.io, the platform for ambitious STEM students. Interested in science fair coaching? Check out our webpage: https://sciencefair.io/coaching