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I often think about some of the biggest inflection points in my adult life up to this point:

  • Stumbling into the journalism program
  • Meeting two entrepreneurs in my freshman dorm
  • The team I joined at my first Startup Weekend
  • Moving off campus as a sophomore
  • Spending a summer bartending and serving
  • Joining the founder of a startup
  • Moving into a massive house with 6 roommates as an adult

All of those circumstances had a dramatic impact on who I met, how my thinking evolved, and how my professional journey has played out. Honestly – I don’t know what life would be like without any one of those things happening.

But what’s truly amazing is that each of those situations was a direct result of rejection.

  • Stumbling into the journalism program
    • [I took an independent study after failing to make the improv team]
  • Meeting two entrepreneurs in my freshman dorm
    • [I was rejected from the dorm I actually applied to]
  • The team I joined at my first Startup Weekend
    • [I pitched my own ideas and received zero votes]
  • Moving off campus as a sophomore
    • [My application to move into the sophomore housing was rejected due to a clerical error]
  • Spending a summer bartending and serving
    • [I was rejected from multiple internships]
  • Joining the founder of a startup
    • [I was not given a second interview from Deloitte or McKinsey]
  • Moving into a massive house with 6 roommates as an adult
    • [The housing options I was looking for were no longer available]

Rejection never stops stinging. We often fall in love with a result before it’s even promised to us, and then the rejection feels like an actual loss.

But rejection opens up space for new opportunity. Are you ready for it?