My first attempt at getting involved was when I applied and was rejected in becoming a BUMP mentee. I had heard it was a great program for freshman business students to learn from upperclassmen and meet new peers. I had worked hard on my application and felt good about it only to have my hopes dashed when an email was sent to me a few days later telling me I did not get in.
Then I heard about FLA, the Florida Leadership Academy in which only the top 100 sophomores in the business school are selected, and I was quick to start working on building a great application, which was a grueling process, an essay, a resume, and a letter of recommendation was required. I worked for hours making sure my essay was perfect, and my resume was updated and I turned my application in confidently. The rejection letter naturally invaded my inbox just a few short days later and even though they let me down gently, they might as well have told me I was ugly and stupid because that is how I felt following another disappointing let down.
I knew I had to make money this semester so I decided that I had to get a job somewhere, and so I applied for server jobs at a few local restaurants, hoping to score some solid tips to balance out my unsparing spending habits of this past semester. I was not called back for an interview for any server jobs but I guess you can say it worked out for me because I landed a job spending 8 hours a day making Pitas at Pita Pit at minimum wage, and it doesn't ALWAYS suck.
What I Learned:
I learned not to give up when things are not going my way and that rejection is always a prerequisite for success. I am only a freshmen right now and so I have a lot of time to get involved and add resume builders to look more appealing to employers and prestigious clubs.
Reflection:
Handling rejection hasn't always been easy for me, I tend to obsess over my failures and not focus on the great successes i have had. My goal is to turn the excess energy I have obsessing over my failures into motivation for my next objectives and learn to move past the failures. Sometimes you just have to remember that even the most successful people have faced countless rejections and failures in their lives. This class changed my perspective on failure because I learned that it is not such a bad thing, often times rejection leads to lessons learned and so I would take more risks now, knowing this information.
Rejection can be tough. It can also be good. One of the things that I tend to look at when dealing with rejection is "ok...now I know..." You can always learn from rejection. You can learn that this person, that company, the situation is one way or another. You can learn who/what is a trustworthy endeavor and if you want to put more time into that thing/person. Rejection and failure is just another thing that you go through in life. It won't always happen, but it is something that happens more often than you will be satisfied with. Continue to explore ways to pull fruit, encouragement and reasons to keep going as rejection piles up. Keep your head up, there is a lot of good things in life too! That might be for another assignment.
ReplyDeleteJust like you I did not also get into FLA or into BUMP even though I worked really hard on the applications. I definitely feel your sense of disappointment. I like your mindset of moving ahead rather than staying fixated on your failures.
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