Rejection Season
The predictability of Spring-time at Lehigh is, in fact, quite nauseating. The weather will be awful, while tempting you once or twice with the warm weather. Once you cooped up studying for finals, spring will actually arrive. The weather is only part of the story though. Along with the dreary weather, spring at Lehigh brings with it the “rejection season.” The rejections, which come in a variety of types during February and March, are truly what give spring semester its joyous disposition.
The rejections one receives throughout this time are truly a part of the Lehigh experience. In case you haven’t guessed by now, the rejections of reference are mainly those from those really nice employers who were so enthused to meet you earlier in the semester. But they really are not very happy to see you. Employers generally then look to reject students an efficient manner, and keep the process quick and painless.
Some corporations even take part in the fun of interviewing candidates here at Lehigh, without any intention of hiring summer interns. This practice is celebrated by many ruthless managers who simply pick a school and send the office sadist in to do their job. Many interviewees have already faced off against a steely-eyed man who refuses to smile, beats you down with questions on your lack of experience, and point blank refuses to believe that you really do want to work for Company X. The tried-and-tested method of handling these animals is actually very simple: kick him in the shins and walk out. While it may be childish, it will certainly get your point across.
Rejections are not just the realm of corporate America. For those looking for additional ways to get rejected, academia is a great place to start. Graduate programs across the country are always out to reject as many people as possible while accepting just enough people around to still have a program. No matter what your major is, there is a graduate program looking to turn you down.
Interestingly enough, academia can be just as cruel as businesses in their attempts to get you out of the way. One of the best examples can be seen right here at Lehigh University. A personal favorite of my rejections thus far came from the Martindale Student Associates Program, which has a very innovative way of messing with someone’s head before the truth hits them.
Having already notified those selected to enter the program, the Martindale Center sends the failed candidates an email, notifying them to open the attached .pdf file. One does so, holding on to some hope that if they took the trouble to send a .pdf, then surely they want you to join them. As you open it, you see a fairly long letter, personally signed, building upon the feeling of getting a personal letter. But upon getting to the second sentence of the third paragraph, it suddenly becomes clear that the personalized file “20090206105759702.pdf” is just their unique way of saying “no.”
To polish off the experience, if you are as fortunate as I am, it is possible to run into the very person who signed your letter of rejection in an elevator, later in the week. Upon doing so, he may ask the obvious question: “did you get accepted to my program?” That’s a difficult question to find a witty answer to, so the Martindale Center makes you feel inadequate one last time.
While most of the rejections come from the corporate or academic positions that everyone is competing for, one would be remiss if he or she didn’t go out and look to get rejected by a great girl or guy that they would like to date. To be politically correct, I am required to mention that getting rejected by both girls and guys is also perfectly acceptable. But whatever your preferences, these relational rejections are a critical part of having a comprehensive spring semester.
At this point, having already handled the corporate and academic rejections, it’s important to use this rejection arena to balance things out. While some of these rejections can be difficult, getting turned down by that girl you wanted to date always brings to mind the classic choice: is something wrong with me, or is something wrong with the rest of the world.
If your spring semester has given you problems in all of these areas, it’s important to keep things in perspective. Yes, your life may not be going well right now. But everyone else’s life is probably just as bad. Whether you turn to Schadenfraude or self-motivation is a personal choice, but it’s a choice that always makes spring semester interesting for everyone.
