Feeling Inspirational.

Now that I'm accepted into graduate school, it's hard for me to believe that I was so stressed about getting in. 

Okay, that's a total lie.

Applying to graduate programs is stupid stressful, time consuming, and expensive. You spend hundreds of dollars on GRE prep books and tutoring programs...not to mention it's $200 just to take the exam. And if you're me, you have to take it twice. Next up is begging asking professors for letters of recommendation. With 100+ other students in your classes with the exact same career goals in mind, this is no small feat. Don't forget the hours you spend pouring over your letter of intent, the volunteer hours you've been squeezing between credit hours, and the money it takes just to apply to the schools you may or may not have a chance of getting into.

All those hours, all that money, all the anxiety leads up to one decision. All of that work feels like wasted time as soon as you click open an email that reads: "Thank you for your interest in XYZ University. We regret to inform you..." 

Wait what?

But I just spent $100 on your application fee + sending my $200 GRE scores to you suckers, doesn't that entitle me to an acceptance?! I DON'T WANT TO GO TO YOUR SCHOOL ANYWAY, BUT I WANT YOU TO WANT ME, WHY DON'T YOU WANT ME?

That was my reaction any time I got a flat out rejection, which was twice. Well, three times if you include the one I got yesterday. But like I mentioned over here, I finally got accepted somewhere, so this last one was easy to brush off. 

What I'm trying to say that if you're in a similar situation, or you plan to be at some point, believe in yourself. Much like real life, rejection happens more often than it doesn't. And not to get all sappy and motivational, but all you can do is pick yourself up and move along. Give yourself five minutes (or an hour, or a night) to cry, then get your shit together. It's easy to say now that I've been accepted, but that's honestly what's gotten me through this last year of craziness. 

Positive thinking, law of attraction, hard work, whatever the hell you wanna call it. You get out of the universe what you put into it.

Picking up what I'm putting down?