Did you look at the cover photo? That's me at my dream school.

Except I don't go there.

My sophomore year of high school, one of my best friends introduced me to her beautiful campus as she was a freshman at the university. The minute I laid eyes on the campus, I fell madly in love. From there, I set all of my academic goals designed around how I could get into that school. Were my numbers satisfactory? Well over satisfactory in fact. Were my activities well-rounded but focused? Yeah, they were actually. Did I nail my interview? For sure I did, my interviewer was sorority sisters with my friend who goes to my dream school. I had it all in the bag with the numbers, activities, ins...everything was designed for me to go to that school.

Except the most competitive class the university had ever seen was also designed for success.

So imagine this: you're on your senior trip when you get an email from your dream school titled “Admissions Decision." My heart fluttered and dropped at the same time. I showed my friends who were surrounding me on the bus and my mom who was chaperoning the trip. Everyone reassured me that I got in and that my scholarships would be through the roof. I thought they were right. I did everything that I was supposed to do to get in. Sadly, I was waitlisted.

I know being waitlisted isn't the end of the world; you still have a chance of getting in. To me though, it meant I wasn't good enough, and waiting until after universal decision day to see if I was accepted or not scared me to death. So I brushed it off. That's the first step in being denied: resilience.

Does not getting into your dream school suck? Hell yeah it does. Is it the end of the world? No, it's not. So instead of moping around, I decided to research my backup schools. I looked into what schools had the best programs for me and then visited them. As I was visiting schools, I found a school that was like a bigger version of my dream school. It had a great program, the money was there, and so were the opportunities. The next day I went home and put down my deposit.

Did I go to my dream school? No, I didn't. Do I love the school I'm at? I'm completely in love with it. I still wonder what my life would be like if I went to my dream school, but to be honest, I don't want to find out. I'm so happy with where my life is at, and I've fallen in love with my school over and over every day.

So make sure you don't look at your denial as a closed door because it's not. It's an open window that will leave you with endless opportunities. If it hadn't been for that email that seemed like it ruined everything, I wouldn't have everything that I have today. If you don't get accepted, it's OK. Another school will be excited to have you, and there will be more opportunities awaiting.