Coping with Rejection

About one year ago, I got the dreaded email stating that I was not moving on in the interview process and that although I was qualified, I was not what the company was looking for.

I laid in bed and cried for about two hours.  This was my dream internship and I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach.  I had never not succeeded at something like this.  I was high achieving in high school, aced my interviews for scholarships and programs for college, got my first internship right after my freshman year of college, which snowballed into many other opportunities within the company.

I had never felt so defeated before, but I jumped right back into the internship pool and had an interview with a different company two days later. I didn't get that internship either, but I wasn't sad about that one.  At that interview, I realized that the only place I wanted to intern at and work for was the first company that had rejected me.  Plus, the second company honestly gave me the heebie jeebies. The environment and set-up was not my style.

So - I talked to the campus rep, reapplied at the beginning of the next semester, interviewed, and got the internship.

There are many different ways to cope with rejection.  You cry.  You get mad.  You get hateful.  You doubt yourself.  I did it all.  But I rose from it.  There is no greater power than the power of emotion. I channeled everything into the rest of the semester to make myself more valuable, more talented, and more prepared for the interview and the internship. In that time, I was able to find my passions and realize how those passions connected to my internship.  But I'll admit - it was hard going back to those interviews and seeing the people who had rejected me.  But if anything, getting that call is greater validation that everything that I worked hard for gave me this opportunity.  So when you feel like you are at the your lowest, work yourself to your highest.  It'll give you the confidence you need and make you feel better about everything you have accomplished.

Finding the Time

One of the greatest assets after graduation is the connections you make in your workplace from your internship.  An internship is the number one thing I tell incoming freshmen to focus on while they are in school.  Start early (right after your freshman year, even!) and do them often! Of course - during the school year, it can be a little trickier to find the perfect balance between classes, your internship, a part-time job, campus organizations, and down-time. But, it's not impossible to do it all. I was there.  I was the girl who was working a 10-hour internship and a 15-hour part-time job.  I was on a leadership position in two Greek organizations.  I was involved on the campus activities board.  I was taking a full-time course load.  You can do it all...It just takes strong will, a good sense of organization, and the ability to prioritize.  Plus, being able to successfully multi-task wouldn't hurt either.

My best friend during my spring 2013 semester was my planner and my phone.  I synced my phone to my iCal and had all my classes and meetings on there. I used my planner to make lists of everything I needed to accomplish on that day.  I was always on my phone so that was where my schedule was most up to date and thats what I started referencing a lot more as the semester went on.  It was a tough semester - I would leave for my 10 AM class and not come back to my house until 5 PM, only to stay long enough to eat and then be back on my way to meetings until 9.  I was definitely my most prepared as far as classes went because I didn't have time to fall behind.  To have a semester that hectic, you teach yourself how to be disciplined and not check Facebook every ten minutes of studying.

In the end, it was totally worth it.  Pushing yourself to that level and realizing that you are succeeding is the best feeling in the world.  It really is a way to see how much you have grown as an individual and how much more responsible you are.  It also makes you appreciate the time you have to yourself a lot more.

One tip to note - the perfect balance is changes semester to semester. Sometimes it can even change within the semester. It's just important to stay adaptable to the situation and learn from your mistakes.