Conjunction "Despite"

"Despite" is an interesting dependent clause conjunction that roughly has the same meaning as "although". We often use it to describe a positive attribute that did not lead to success or a negative attribute that is overcome on the way to success.

Examples:

"Despite his hard work, he failed to gain admission to NTU."

"Despite his lack of athletic ability, he became an excellent basketball player."

--Notice that I use the possessive; with "although," I would have written "Although he worked hard..." and "Although he lacks athletic ability...."