You’re Rejected, So What?

Assalamualaikum,

Before I head to bed, I just thought I could repost my latest entry in 94fs here for you guys. Enjoy 🙂

“How can you not be afraid of rejections?”

A friend of mine asked me this particular question last week, when she was staying over in my room for the weekend. We were talking about our plans for our first summer break next May, and also applying for a part-time job on campus this semester.

“I mean, like, if I was rejected, I’d be so sad.”

I looked at her, and smiled to myself.

Rejection’s a part of life.

Or, at least, that’s what I tried to tell myself every single day. Rejections by your crushes, rejections from scholarship bodies, rejections from potential employers, rejections from the people around you. Each and every single one of us face rejections differently. Some treat it as a sign of failure, and thus stopped trying after their first rejection. Others treat it as a sign of imperfection, and used it as a reason to push themselves to be better.

Which one of the above two categories are you in?

I once had a senior in INTEC. He was a Chinese guy, one year older than me. Like me, he applied to US universities in his first year of ADFP. He applied to about 6/7 universities, including a couple of Ivy League or Ivy League-standard universities, and was rejected by ALL of them.

Devastated? Of course he was. Words couldn’t expressed how frustrated he was, how disappointed he was. But it didn’t stop him from trying. He stayed in INTEC for ACTP, and, one year after the painful rejections, applied again. His persistence and well-earned CGPA did not fail him this time ’round, crowning him as the valedictorian for the graduating class last June. And guess where he is now?

Brown University, one of the Ivy League universities in the US.

Jason’s personal story during graduation was applauded by everyone in the hall. It was a show of courage, hard work and the will to succeed. One rejection is not the end of the world. One ‘NO’ is not the end of your life. One ‘I’m sorry, but unfortunately you are not the candidate we’re looking for’ is not a sign of your failure in life.

It’s just an opportunity for you to learn, to improve and to grow.

Just look around you. Things don’t just happen without any hard work. Look at where all those millionaires [or billionaires?] come from. Look at what happened to Steve Jobs. Look at what Bill Gates went through. Look at Albert Einstein’s past. None of them became the person we know them to be in one shot. They encountered rejections and failures, sometimes more than the successes that they’ve had. But they’ve never let the past stop them from going on with their future.

Go on and get a move on with life. When one door of opportunity closes, another one opens. Go and explore all the things you can. Take part in many different things, try out various opportunities. Find out your strengths and weaknesses. Figure out what your passion is, and if you stumbled upon a dead end, it’s not wrong to take a step back and reanalyze the situation.

But, whatever you do, never give up on your dreams. Never let go of your dreams and hopes just because they said it’s impossible. Never stop believing in yourself, no matter how hopeless things may be.

Look up, and keep your head held high. Life’s tough, but you know you’re tougher.