I’m not going to sugarcoat it — I hadn’t dealt with much rejection in my academic career before college. It’s not that I was handed things, it’s just that my experience had always been, if you work hard, you become successful. While I still stand behind this statement, I have learned that unfortunately, it doesn’t apply to every scholarly scenario.
During my freshman year of college, I have been rejected from the two things I really wanted. Now, here I am in complete transparency.
During the third week of school, I applied and interviewed for a spot on the Freshman Ambassador Board. I didn’t get it. My naive younger self was shocked. As a high school student who was highly involved with campus activities, community service, honors and AP classes, I had never been turned down when it came to campus involvement. But there I was, beginning my first semester of college feeling completely defeated. I’ll never know why they didn’t choose me, maybe I blew the interview or didn’t offer diversity to the previously selected group. But I accepted my initial rejection, and ultimately came to the conclusion that the spot wasn’t meant to be. It was at that point that I looked elsewhere for opportunities to become involved, and I stumbled upon Her Campus Utah, where I’m now a weekly writer and media team member.
This experience with rejection immediately made me feel mediocre and was honestly a slap in the face. But alas, I bounced back and found other ways to invest my time. It took until the last few weeks of my freshman year to apply for another activity on-campus.
I had my heart set on becoming a student-ambassador (you know, the ones you see walking around campus giving tours). I applied for the job, which required me to create my first ever college resume and submit a formal application. After a slight miscommunication, I thought my group-interview spot had been forfeited. After reaching out and respectfully speaking my case, I was able to secure a group interview. Ultimately, the interview was a blast, but I knew my spot wasn’t a given. And turns out, it wasn’t mine to have. My first reaction was disappointment. I told myself that maybe if I had worked a little harder or came a little more prepared, I would have gotten the job. But after thinking more logically, I know my way of thinking was not necessarily true. I’m glad I had the opportunity to interview, and of course I’m bummed that it didn’t work out, but once again, it wasn’t meant to be.
While I’m still not “good” at handling rejection (be honest, is anyone?), I’ve come a long way. So here’s my advice to anyone else out there that also struggles with handling rejection: if you have done everything in your power to succeed but do not succeed, let it go. Don’t chase after opportunities, let them come to you and take advantage of them.
I don’t regret any of the applications that I completed or the interviews that I did, despite them being unsuccessful endeavors. I now know that rejection is something I needed to learn how to deal with in order to successfully transition into adulthood.