Feel rejected after getting rejected? Please hear my story

Pre-College Topics High School Life
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<p>The OP shared his story to try to calm people who may have cried or will be crying soon over college rejections. Personally, I have cried over my rejections, yet his post still brought me peace. </p>

<p>He was not just rewording the old phrase “clean your plate because children are starving in [insert country].” Is it wrong to share a personal story in the hopes that some people will find comfort in the fact that what seems to be a source of great distress to many people on collegeboard (rejection letters) is in fact a beautiful thing. </p>

<p>I’m NOT saying that you don’t have greater stressors in your lives (living in poverty, a mother with cancer, etc). However, the fact that you feel frustrated/shamed/whatever about having to go to your “safety” school says a lot about the opportunities many of us share. To be able to even have access to education (be it elementary, middle school, highschool, HYPS, or community college) is an amazing thing. </p>

<p>Of course you feel hurt by rejection. But egos and pride heal. The shame will pass.
But to vent your frustration, anger, and self-righteousness against the OP who, believe it or not, was actually trying to HELP you fight through your wounds, is totally uncalled for. Scream into a pillow, punch a wall, but don’t reduce yourself in such a manner. It’s disgusting, and it’s sad.</p>

<p>PS: take your political squabbling to another board, or a rally, or the dinner table, but stop wasting space here.</p>

<p>That is all.</p>

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<p>darkchaos you said this:</p>

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<p>Don’t you think it’s patronizing when a high school student tells a college student that I need to be tolerant of other people’s views since I’m in college? College is a place where you are bombarded with other people’s views and a place to be openminded. Maybe you overlooked that, no? It had nothing to do with gstein’s beliefs, but rather, it was an attack on me (poorly executed I must say) because I called him out on his anti-militaristic views. It was unecessary to make the comments about me, and irrelevant to the topic being discussed. </p>

<p>I’m overly patriotic because I want to hear the stories of those who fought for my country and defended my freedoms? That I have offered nothing but nice comments to the OP and wished him well? That I have defended the OP from posts that were not only rude, but ignorant? The least I can do for someone who has given up their life for me and/or defended my (and my country) is make sure that they are being honored and treated respectfully, whether it be in person or via CC. I honestly hope you are not one of those people who feel that protesting the war during military funerals is acceptable, because it’s not. Since I also think that it is rude and disrespectful, I must be overly patriotic to the T. </p>

<p>If you think that constitutes being overpatriotic, then you have a lot of learning and growing up to do. I honestly can’t believe you are college bound students, because you have absolutely NO respect for those who are older than you and you and unappreciative of don’tgiveup’s OP. It was a wonderful story, and as always, you guys have to bring your political baggage in and ruin the ENTIRE point of the OP. You guys know who you are and you should be ashamed of yourselves. Don’tgiveup EVEN SAID not to bring politics in it, and you guys won’t listen to him. How much clearer can he get? You guys are being very disrespectful to him and I think you guys owe him an apology. He doesn’t deserve the crap that you feel you must give him. </p>

<p>I’m not going to argue with you since this has nothing to do with the OP and you are just twisting my words around and not rereading posts carefully. The more you guys argue over little things and stray offtopic, the more you are making yourselves look bad to the OP, and making the OP feel unwelcome. He doesn’t appreciate the fact that we all are arguing, and he’s said before that he’s getting sick of it.</p>

<p>So for the millionth time: drop the argument and move on.</p>

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<p>I can’t believe I read this. I am an Asian-American and I’m offended by this post.</p>

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<p>Well, my family thought I was crazy at first for joining the Navy and never really helped me with the whole entrance process for the academy. Now they brag to everyone that I’m here. argh. My aunt and uncle are Chinese and doctors (my cousin will be starting Pre-Med this fall). They are proud too but at the same time feel sorry for me and thought I had nothing else going for me. Many don’t understand the difference between officer and enlisted, or the reason why one joins the military compared to staying in the military for that matter. </p>

<p>It is a weird situation because my classmates and I are constantly being told how spoiled and selfish we are. We complain about standing watch, not getting enough liberty, how our meals are crappy, homework, money, etc. They (officers, the higher ups) say how we take things for granted and are always being reminded how troops are dying and suffering.</p>

<p>Being called those things makes you feel even worse because you are upset about something, then you are ashamed for being upset about it. Perspective has been mentioned many times here and it is definitely a factor. In the short term, I have to say it is okay to be concerned about something that to another may not seem like a big deal. At the same time be aware of the world and appreciate what you have.</p>

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<p>For most of my post, I did not mention anything political. Politics don’t have anything to do with my warning that too much of the OP’s style of thinking can be dangerous. Also, I am NOT trying to personally criticize the OP. The OP has great intentions, and has shown it through his well written and inspirational post. I am just trying to discuss parts of his ideas.</p>

<p>“I’m overly patriotic because I want to hear the stories of those who fought for my country and defended my freedoms? That I have offered nothing but nice comments to the OP and wished him well? That I have defended the OP from posts that were not only rude, but ignorant? The least I can do for someone who has given up their life for me and/or defended my (and my country) is make sure that they are being honored and treated respectfully, whether it be in person or via CC. I honestly hope you are not one of those people who feel that protesting the war during military funerals is acceptable, because it’s not. Since I also think that it is rude and disrespectful, I must be overly patriotic to the T.”</p>

<p>I absolutely did not say you were overly patriotic because you wanted to hear the stories of those who fought for our country and defended our freedoms. I did not say any of that.</p>

<p>I am only defending myself here, so I will give my personal opinion - but this is offtopic and it is my personal opinion so it has nothing to do with my argument above. People who feel that protesting the war during military funerals is ok are disgusting. The soldiers who risk their lives must be supported. In general, they are great people have decided, for one reason or another, to risk their lives to protect our country and freedom. If I opposed the war in Iraq, I would blame the higher ups who made the incorrect decision. But even if the soldiers who died at the military funeral WERE responsible, it would still be too heartless to deface their funeral with protests. Like you said, they should be “honored and treated respectfully”.</p>

<p>You say that I’m twisting your words around, but I think you’re twisting my words around. As I said, “I am only using this sentence to provide an example of the ignorance or patronization that can often be consistently seen in people who are overly and alarmingly patriotic.” I am not saying that ANY of your other words have been overly patriotic - only that sentence. I have also specifically said that that one sentence cannot be fairly used to judge you as an overly patriotic person.</p>

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<p>Last time I checked your post YOU were the one who was twisting my words around.</p>

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<p>I already told you that the sentence I used was because a high school kid was telling me (a college student) how I should think because I am in college. I don’t appreciate someone who has not spent one day in a college lecture hall ( I don’t mean a CC, I mean a lecture hall of 600 students) telling me that I am intolerant of other people’s viewpoints and that I shouldn’t be in college because of that. I really don’t know how that can be interpreted as being overly patriotic. It’s a personal issue, not an issue of how much you love your country and you are distorting the posts that have been made to formulate your arguments.</p>

<p>This is getting really annoying and CCer’s who keep trying to attack me (directly and indirectly) are just wasting space, time and energy, so I suggest that you stay on topic and show some courtesy to don’tgiveup. I am tired of having to repeat myself over and over about staying on topic, so every person who attacks the OP (or anyone else) or mentions something irrelevant is going to have a lengthy default response from me. This is getting way out of hand and you are contributing nothing useful to this thread.</p>

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<p>This is the best post ever on CC.</p>

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<p>Incredible post!</p>

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<p>I have a headache reading all this. I’m the most pro-war they come. If it takes soldiers to die to defend the liberties of a nation and to take out a ruthless dictator thenso be it. </p>

<p>here’s what some1 said:There are people out there who are caring enough to want to pay college themselves because of parental economic struggles / parents unwilling to pay them. Just because you are lucky enough (I presume) that your parents are willing to pay doesn’t mean everyone else is.</p>

<p>LOL this is funny because as I said before we live in America. My grandparents came here with 5 dollars and a pat on the shoulder for good luck. I don’t EVER use my parents money. I recently started a business that is generating XX,XXX thousand dollars a year in profit. I’ll send myself to college. What did I invest into that business? 1000 dollars. This is America and if money is an issue, then you lviing in this country is an issue for me. </p>

<p>You show me an 18 year old who has great parents and is FORCED IN ALL ASPECTS to join the army REGARDLESS OF INCOME and I’ll give you the universal truths about the afterlife. : ) </p>

<p>"The OP shared his story to try to calm people who may have cried or will be crying soon over college rejections. Personally, I have cried over my rejections, yet his post still brought me peace. "</p>

<p>change the word calm to anger especially to people who have seen worse than what the Op has seen ( like me). </p>

<p>K I’ll stop because I don’t seem like arguing to a wall. You volunteer, then KNOW that life can end tomorrow.</p>

<p>As I said before I’m the most pro war as they come and the most pro-soldier and pro-liberty.However, i’m not pro idiotic.</p>

<p>That is all. Good night and Good luck.</p>

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<p>your welcome sagedautumn… but somehow it seems CC doesn’t allow people to express their opinions online so i’ll stop.</p>

<p>I guess in the end I just dislike poor people who feel they have no oppurtunity to use the economic oppurtunities this democratic nation of the world has given them.
BYE! <3 ALL!</p>

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<p>I don’t want to name drop but he’s probably 20-21, Navy, father former POW and running for president, was in my calc2 class last summer.
i say no more</p>

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<p>Thank you for doing what was asked of you. Your post here is wonderful - so many of our kids feel so entitled, and have no idea what the other side of the tracks looks like. Thanks for reminding ALL of us that there are some in this world whose major accomplishment for that day was to be wily enough to not get killed.</p>

<p>Enjoy your college years - you have earned them!!</p>

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<p>Please do not harass other CCer’s since it is not the intent of the OP to start a flamewar. If you are a.) prowar b.) antiwar c.) antitroop and have nothing useful to contribute to this thread and want to discuss issues pertaining to the above mentioned topics, please start a thread in the appropriate forum. This thread was not created for you to spout your anti-Iraq war/pro-Iraq war beliefs if you have read the original post. If you have a bone to pick with a specific CCer please PM them or create a thread in the appropriate section of CC and debate there. If you are here to discuss your experiences with being rejected from your top choice school and want to express your appreciation to the OP, you may do so on this thread. </p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

<p>(I never thought I would have to make a response like this, but if this nonsense continues, this will be a default response from me. You guys are young adults, so act like one).</p>

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<p>I feel you on this one… I myself am 23 and enlisted when I was 17. I joined a few months previous to 9/11… in fact 9/11 took place while I was in basic training. I didn’t originally have plans to join the military, but it seemed as if though mom and dad were going to be laid off. My brother was attending UCI and I was in my first year at USC. The military to me seemed like the best choice to get a college education. I ended up leaving USC after my first semester and left for basic training. </p>

<p>After completion of both basic training and my job training… take a guess where I was off to? Well I was off to Afghanistan, things were a bit hectic, but since I was not there at the start things cooled off some… well spent almost a year there then headed back for the states. Then the news of another war on the rise, I was sent to Kuwait in 2003. It was kind of obvious that we were going to head into Iraq regardless of what happened. Me along with many others were staged until the go ahead was given. I remember the night we staged up at the border between Kuwait and Iraq. It was just a big huge pile of dirt that distinguished Kuwait from Iraq. The night before we went in, there was artillery being fired like it was a never ending 4th of July show. I couldn’t imagine how many innocent people would be getting the bad end of the stick for their leaders mistakes (supposing thats why we were there) I to have been shot at, cursed, spat at… heck I was even shot in the shoulder and out of commission for a bit, but offered to finish out my deployment. I remember the kids running up to the sides of the street when a convoy would go through, they would smile and wave and thank us… </p>

<p>Well long story short, I spent 13 months there, came home then went back shortly after extending my 4 years of service to 5. I did what schooling I could while in then came home and immediately started at a community college. I finished up my GE’s in a year and just waiting on transferring this fall. I’ve got many acceptances so far, in fact not one denied… but if I never got into my dream school then who cares… and education is an education. I go to school to better myself and that is what I value. It is not a matter of where you go but how you utilize your time and resources. Anyone can get an education, be thankful that there are literally thousands of places you could attend. There are tons of people that would kill to be in your shoes.</p>

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<p>^ Thank you for your story and your service. On behalf of all CCer’s I am grateful for people like you to protect my country and my freedoms. Also, welcome to CollegeConfidential. :)</p>

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<p>If you can’t talk about politics or have an intelligent debate in college, where can you? I think the problem with colleges today is that there is not enough serious talk of politics, and too much of either complete apathy or ignorant attacks. </p>

<p>Don’t get me wrong - I do appreciate the OP’s original post and viewpoint. It’s an inspirational story that will make more than one person on this success-focused board think twice.</p>

<p>The problem I have is with people who too often tell us to put things in perspective. Smurfgirl - I read the list you posted. I know that I am fortunate to live in a place where I can shower every day and attend college. The thing is, I have been raised in circumstances where it would be unacceptable to my parents (and to myself) for me to not go to college, or at least have a very well thought out alternative. Furthermore, given the things I have achieved in my 18 years, there is a possibility that I would not appreciate attending college “just anywhere”. If you want to look at the other side (which is something you claim to want to do as a tolerant individual), put things in perspective the other way around. I will probably never be in a situation like the OP’s. Does that make his experiences less valuable? Definetly not. Does it make mine any less valuable? According to you, and others who want to “put things into perspective”, yes. I think it shouldn’t. I live in a place and time where both situations can be very relevant depending on where you’re coming from. </p>

<p>You said that soldiers were the ones who fought for the freedom of expression and the freedoms that we now take for granted. I’d like to add that if intellectuals hadn’t discussed and debated the basic idea of freedom, these very soldiers may not have had much to fight for. Both pursuits are equally important at the end of the day.</p>

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<p>I did not post that list to argue with anyone on this board. I posted this because I thought it was very touching (I recieved this from someone) and I thought it would be nice to share it. </p>

<p>It’s sad that you have to resort to this.</p>

<p>Trust me I’ve done so much and gave up so much (I did not attend prom, didn’t hang out with friends afterschool, didn’t go to any parties, etc. Curfew?? There was no such thing in my family since all I was forced to do was study) so I could get into the one university I dreamed of going forever. And guess what, I didn’t get in. One of my friends told me that he would’ve loved to gone to the university I am currently at, but since his parents won’t support him, he may have to join the military. Another friend of mine told me that he wanted to get in to my university but he didn’t have the grades or the money (and he was a very hard worker). </p>

<p>Things happen for a reason and if you remain bitter about your rejection, you will never enjoy life. Be thankful that you are able to recieve an education from a good university, even though it may not be the one you were gunning for.</p>

<p>What the heck is a piece of paper with your name on it worth, if you have not enjoyed your life and remained bitter about something that happened years ago?</p>

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<p>There are so many heated debates here, but I just wanted to point out system. If you guys did not want all these debates to continue, why not stop posting? Smurfgirl, I know that your intentions are good, and that all you are trying to do is protect the OP from the disses and sarcasm so rampant here on CC. However, haven’t you realized that by replying to virtually every post attacking the OP you are only fueling the conflict? If the words people like Firebird44 fell on deaf ears, our problems would be solved. </p>

<p>And to the rest of the people on this thread, I agree with darkchaos in saying that hearing about the abysmal situations of people in the other parts of the world does not necessarily make people feel better. I know someone who got into Yale but not Harvard, and Harvard was her dream school. That someone was my sister. She worked so hard in school, studied so much, slaved over her application, yet got rejected. She was so sad over this news, and spent many days after that moping around the house. Now some of you might ridicule my sister, saying that she got into YALE, for chrissakes. However, she really had her heart set on Harvard, and couldn’t get the thought out of her mind that no matter how she thought of it, she wasn’t going to be going to her dream school. I’m from a very low income family, so of course my parents were proud that she was going to go be attending Yale. No matter how she tried to think about it, she was still pretty sad. And there’s nothing wrong with that. In America, for a variety of reasons, a lot of kids are told that they have to go to a “good” college to succeed. Whether it be from parents, media or whatever, today’s kids are told that they have to go to a prestigious college to succeed. So it is only natural for rejections to sting, and telling these students who were rejected that they should not care about their rejections because there are other people who would kill to attend any sort of college is not very soothing. </p>

<p>Case in point: I have a friend who was set on attending UCLA, but got rejected. He did however receive a substantial amount of money from UC Irvine, which isn’t a bad school. But all he can think about is how he won’t be attending his dream school in the fall. Telling him the story the OP is trying to tell would not change his attitude. </p>

<p>But on a different note I’d like to congratulate the OP on surviving Iraq and being able to go to college. I know lots of people take things for granted, and I would know since I’m pretty low income. It was hard to hear my friends talk about how their parents would buy them a car if they got above 1800 on their SATs, and they took many expensive sat prep courses…I got a 36 on my ACT score, but I did not get anything, nor did I expect anything.</p>

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<p>WOW jeesh i didn’t think voicing my opinions online would be so disastrous… I thought debating was supposed to be healthy when both sides come to a common conclusion, but I guess not. People can swear and call me anmes, but I don’t care! Let’s all just have fun! : ) You don’t see me getting mad when people call me a little kid or an overgeneralizer : /</p>

<p>“One of my friends told me that he would’ve loved to gone to the university I am currently at, but since his parents won’t support him, he may have to join the military.”</p>

<p>I think the key words there are : “Parents wont support him.”
I think those words just proved my point for the 100th time about the families of kids that HAVE to join the military… like i said before… i don’t blame the students. I blame the parents.</p>

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<p>Nobody ever joins the military for money… trust me. ppl that join the army (southeners, religious people) see it as giving back to the nation… protecting its virtues. Those are the individuals who should be respected. : )</p>

<p>It’s a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight and thats the truth</p>

<p>That is all.</p>