It's the month of college decisions! Thousands of high school students across the US will get the dreaded email that will be the bearer of good or bad news. For me, it was a month of constant anxiety up until decisions were released, multiple days of trying to calm my beating heart. And then when the day came, I received the beautiful sight of rejection from my first choice.
For a few good seconds, it felt like the world had ended. The sun had exploded, the Earth was no more, I was no better than a speck of dirt. But of course, this was not real. The Earth continued to spin, the sun in fact, had not exploded, and time did not freeze. Because that's the thing, a college decision by people you don't even know, who don't even deserve to define you, shouldn't dictate your dreams and ambitions and self-worth. You can control how perfect your essays are, how high your test scores are, how rigorous your coursework and extracurriculars look, but you cannot control the admissions committee that look for specific traits. College admissions is highly skewed and imperfect and there are too many factors that dictate your admission and things you can't control.
It's okay to wallow in disappointment for a few hours after receiving a rejection because lets face it, rejection sucks, but remember that it's not the end of your journey. You're self-worth shouldn't be decided by what college you get into, in fact, the colleges that rejected you, should be be the sad ones. Here's a link to one of my favorite articles about college rejection and having a It's Not Me, It's You attitude towards decisions. Because it's true, isn't it? You could have the perfect application with the best SAT scores, beautiful and poetic essays, stunning extracurriculars, yet admissions wants someone with the same exact thing but from a different high school or geographical area than you.
So to those with dreams deferred, it's not the end of your journey! You can't control what's already been done, but you can control the present and what you want for the future. If you're ambitious and hard-working, continue to remain ambitious and hard-working. Going to the perfect school doesn't mean easy-sailing through life and even going to a school that isn't your first, second, or even third choice isn't going to be easy, but take everything you can and learn as much as you can hold so you can reach your dream and succeed. Only you know what you can offer and what you can achieve, so create an environment for yourself where you can thrive. Nothing else can define you.
Good luck and remain hopeful!
