Digital Diaries Episode 3: Dealing with Rejection

Anita Li, Reporter
October 9, 2022

ANITA LI: Content warning: this podcast contains explicit language.

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ANITA LI: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Anita Li. This is episode three of The Daily’s Digital Diaries, a weekly podcast following what students are doing and asking two students one question about life at Northwestern.

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ANITA LI: As club recruitment season is in full swing, this week’s question is: How have you experienced rejection at Northwestern?

ANITA LI: For McCormick sophomore Sungbin Yun, he has faced some career rejections.

SUNGBIN YUN: I just got like three rejection letters from internships I applied to, but like I’ve become desensitized. I don’t feel anymore because rejection is just a part of who I am. There is that initial “aw shucks” but it doesn’t really affect me that much.

SUNGBIN YUN: I have this patented mindset called “don’t give a shit” mentality — things will work out. Don’t really stress about it.

ANITA LI: Yun also faced rejection in his love life in college.

SUNGBIN YUN: I was rejected, like, three times at the bar by upperclassmen because I was a freshman.

ANITA LI: Any advice for people who are down bad?

SUNBGIN YUN: Don’t take advice from me — I’m not the best person to give advice on that category.

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ANITA LI: Medill freshman Olivia Aloi has also recently faced rejection, but with a student publication on campus.

OLIVIA ALOI: I recently submitted an application for it, and I didn’t receive any follow-up about it. This publication, I learned about it before I got to Northwestern, and I was interested in pursuing work with them. It was disappointing just because I wanted an outlet to express my creativity in that regard, and obviously I know that they can only select a certain number of people.

ANITA LI: Aloi acknowledged that despite this conclusion, rejections still hurt.

OLIVIA ALOI: I think that, at the end of the day, we’re our biggest advocates, and even though we understand that there are limits to what we can do and what we achieve, we still want the best for ourselves. And sometimes, when things don’t work out, it just hurts.

ANITA LI: But Aloi still has hope.

OLIVIA ALOI: Because I’ve only been here for a few weeks — it’s no sweat off my back. Of course, like, I wanted to be a part of it, but I think I’m just gonna try next quarter or whenever they’re accepting applications again, or I’ll try to see if another publication speaks to what I want to pursue in journalism and try to join one of those.

ANITA LI: What advice do you have for Northwestern students experiencing rejection right now?

OLIVIA ALOI: Don’t be too hard on yourself. This is already a very rigorous academic and social environment. And you’re gonna make mistakes, you’re gonna miss opportunities, but as long as you keep pushing forward, eventually, you will realize your purpose and what actually matters to your life path.

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ANITA LI: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Anita Li. Thanks for listening to episode three of The Daily’s Digital Diaries. This episode was reported and produced by me. The Audio Editor of The Daily Northwestern is Lawrence Price, the Digital Managing Editor is Angeli Mittal and the Editor-in-chief is Jacob Fulton. Make sure to subscribe to The Daily Northwestern’s podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or SoundCloud to hear next week’s episode on Monday.

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