It's that time of year when high school seniors are sending out their college applications with the hope that the school of their dreams will send them the big envelope in return, accepting them into their institution.

For some, that dream comes true, and they get that big envelope in the mail.

For others, a smaller envelope comes in the mail with a letter that basically starts with, "Thanks, but no thanks..."

Rejection is hard to deal with at any age, but for a high school senior who is already stressed enough about having to plan out the rest of their life, receiving a letter with the word "denied" can make their entire world fall apart.

I went through this pain firsthand last year when I was rejected by what I thought was my dream school, the one and only place where I could possibly succeed and be happy.

I felt like I had just been slapped in the face after reading that rejection letter, like none of my hard work mattered. My perfect GPA, endless hours of community service, vast list of extra-curricular activities, and academic achievements were wasted. It hurt, and I felt like my life was o-v-e-r.

Being 18 and feeling like you aren't good enough is possibly the worst feeling in the world, at least that's how I felt at the time. I felt stuck, like there was no hope left in the world.

To those students who didn't get accepted into the school of their dreams, I know how you feel, and I promise you that everything is going to be okay. Trust me.

Just because you didn't get into the school, you think you won't get the job. You won't live the life that you had meticulously planned out in your head. You feel like you'll never truly be happy because it wasn't the future you dreamed of having.

However, I'm living proof that sometimes not getting what you want can actually turn out to be a stroke of luck.

I realized that I had two choices.

1. Give up because the school rejected me.

2. Accept it, move on, and give the other schools that accepted me a chance.

I could not be more thankful to have been rejected by my "dream" school.

If I had been accepted, I wouldn't have been introduced to the most wonderful people, my best friends. They are the people who listen to my endless rants about the cute guy in my English class and suffer along with me until I finish my research paper that's due in an hour.

I wouldn't have met a professor who forced me to step out of my comfort zone and helped me discover my true passion, journalism.

I wouldn't have realized that my actual dream school was Allegheny College.

I know that feeling, where you feel like you've hit rock bottom, but the funny thing about rock bottom is that it is a great foundation for building new dreams.

Don't become bitter over life's disappointments. Learn to let go of the past, realize that not every day will be sunny, and don't be afraid to fail.

The college that you got accepted to or got rejected from does not define anything you have done in your life. Life will go on, and things will work out.

You are more than any rejection letter. You are good enough, and you're going to build a new dream for yourself.