I was in New York City on a school trip.I called home from a pay phone,and my little sister, Alex,said four envelopes had arrived:Georgetown,Cornell,William and Mary and the University of Massachusetts.She then opened and read them to me in her ten-year-old voice:"We regret that we do not have a place for you..."Rejected from Georgetown."You were one of many qualified candidates.."Rejected from Cornell.And number seventy-three on a waiting list of seventy-five at William and Mary.Accepted to U Mass,my safety school.
I didn't digest the rejections immediately.I toured the United Nations,took train home and went back to school.Then I realized that other people had gotten into schools they really wanted to go to.Up to that point in my seventeen years,I hadn't really failed at anything.I got good grades, made the school team and scored well on my SATs.I hadn't experienced any major disappointments in my life,no deaths,no disease,no divorce,no cavities(龋齿)even.So being rejected seemed disastrous.
I had always assumed I'd go to one of the"good schools."I really wanted to be chosen:This is the place for smart people,and we want you.U Mass,on the other hand,had the reputation of being a party school to which,come September,I'd be headed with the guy who sat next to me in tenth-grade history and who,during tests,left his book open on the floor and turned the pages with his feet.
I did not get active like my friend Heather,who,having been rejected by her first choice,made I Love Lucy-style plans to drive to the Duke campus with her soccer ball and her science-fair project to show the admissions board(招生委员会)exactly what they were rejecting.I simply said things like,"I've decided to give up the undergraduate degree and take a cake-decorating course."The subtext in this was:I'm stupid.The world isn't fair.
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I remained bitter until one day,my father sat me down. …… Deeply touched by his words,I began to reassess my situation. |
