Lo Castro's Lowdown: Rejecting the World of Rejection

So we’re coming down to the wire here my friends. Only a couple more weeks until another year of the college experience slips away into the confines of our minds’ memories.

I’m sure you’ve had both some amazing and treacherous occurrences happen to you. As a junior, yes, you still have another wonderful year of this column to look forward to, I think this year by far exceeded what I first sought out as my best intentions. I’ve learned that as college progresses, you find yourself taking bigger risks and making larger mistakes whether it be socially, personally or academically.
And what reared its ugly face at me definitely more than I had expected, was the evil-doing of rejection. No, I’m not talking about the kind of rejection most of us witness on a Thursday night at Malloy’s. I’m talking about real-life-adult rejection. The kind that is fueled predominately by the refusal of hire by an employer. Your attempt at a part-time job at McDonald’s as a high school freshman doesn’t count.
 I’m sure that nobody understands what I’m talking about more than this year’s seniors.
While it’s only April, I’ve talked to several seniors who have come to the general consensus that graduating college is one of the most invigorating and equally frightening things in the world.

While some are choosing to do service work, others are still haphazardly searching for any and all job opportunities. These 20-somethings are afraid that after commencement next month, being unemployed and unable to pay back Sallie Mae is going to  replace old Thursday night sentiments and the achieved ability to knowingly be able to sustain on Ramen Noodles and Easy Mac for weeks straight.
This is just the start of rejection in the real world—an act that produces feelings far more dramatic than getting a 68 percent on an art history test you didn’t study for or being denied a GAP credit card because you already have five other ones to retail stores.
If this year has taught me anything (besides the fact that you will undeniably receive at least one parking ticket a semester) it’s that rejection will continually happen far more often now than in the teen years.

And it will be dished out by more than just your crush who is your flavor of the week. Parents, professors, employers and even friends may be the catalyst to rejection.

But what I’ve also found is that it will definitely be a driving influence in someone’s zeal to achieve greater things.
Granted, we all know that rejection is a part of life. But how we react to it is a far greater gauge of our individual character.
For four years, college students get to work on producing a thick skin to help them adjust to all the entailments of the post college craziness.
And if you haven’t begun to realize that life after college is not always going to include blissful things like beer pong, sleeping in and procrastinating, then boy, do you have a lot of work ahead of you. Rejection may suck, but living in your parents’ basement until you’re 35 is a lot worse. Do yourself a favor: in all circumstances, have the courage to reject rejection.