We Regret To Inform You…

Spring semester at Vanguard brings on many changes. The sun reminds you that it never really left, you punch yourself in the face at yet another engagement notification on Facebook, and last, but not least, leadership positions are chosen.
If you’re a freshman, sophomore, or junior who applied, there are certain cycles you go through.
You’ve been checking your email all week, you look at your phone constantly to be sure you have no missed calls or voicemails, and you have possibly even memorized your dreaded lock combination at the mailboxes in assurance that all your bases are completely covered.
Then that fateful day arrives. You will now find out if you are going to be apart of Student Government Association, Residence Life, Diversity, or Spiritual Formation. You have already created scenarios in your head of the fun time that you would have if chosen. And then, as quickly as those fantasies were created is how quickly they were crushed. You receive a generic email or letter in your mailbox with the opening lines of, “Thank you for applying, but we regret to inform you…”
And the lump in your throat begins to form. You don’t even have to finish reading the letter and you know the result, and the only thing going through your head at that moment is, “I’m not good enough.”
This happened to me during my sophomore year at Vanguard. I had applied not only for a Resident Assistant (RA) position but also a position within Student Government, and was rejected by both. To pour some more lemon juice on the open wound, my roommate had applied to be an RA and had received it.
So how do you deal with rejection from a school that you have poured into time after time? Well, in my case, I left the country.
Before I had even applied, I had decided that if I was not hired for both positions I would study abroad, though I did not really think that would happen. Life has a funny way of working itself out. So I began to research different programs and countries and with much prayer and deliberation, had decided to go to Ireland and attend Dublin City University for the fall semester of my junior year. To this day it is one of the best decisions I have ever made and though I say this with a twinge of sadness, I would not have had that opportunity if I was not rejected by departments of a school that I have grown to love and will greatly miss.
So for all of you who were rejected from a leadership position, take heart! You’re in good company and you never know what experiences you will get to have or what doors will be opened. Who knew getting rejected could be such fun.