Mar

09

Opportunities: Gains and Losses

category icon Posted in Campus Life, General

Hey Hawkeyes!

It’s been a busy week yet again and I’m so happy for the weekend. One of the things I’ve wanted to talk about in this post was the opportunities in college. There are so many things to get involved in both academically and otherwise. I’ve applied for a few of the great opportunities through the University of Iowa. It’s always fun to apply with a friend so you have someone to talk about the interview with and go to the information meetings with. Unfortunately though, it makes it more difficult when the accepted/rejected emails go out. It’s our first dose of the real world as we get opportunities that our friends don’t and they get opportunities that we don’t.

If you get the accepted email, you’re super excited and want to text your friend right away. But what if they didn’t make it? So you cautiously ask them if they’ve checked their email lately. If they didn’t get it, then you feel bad. You don’t want to act too happy because it’s an opportunity they don’t get. If you’re anything like me, you were really excited to do this together and hadn’t really thought about what would happen if either of you weren’t accepted. Disclaimer: I’m not sure what happens if you both get the accepted email; I haven’t had that happen yet, unfortunately.

If you get the rejected email, you definitely feel rejected. The amount of rejection is directly proportional to how much work you put into the application and interview process. After discovering that you “may not be ready for this position, but are encouraged to try again next year,” you hesitantly text your friend and ask if they’ve checked their email. If they received the accepted email, you try really hard to be happy for them but at the same time you don’t understand what you did wrong. You definitely don’t wish that they hadn’t been accepted, you just wish you could have both been accepted.

With that emotional roller coaster going on at this time of year when different university positions are being opened, there are a lot of mixed feelings. With that being said, I was not accepted to continue the interview process for Resident Assistant, however I was accepted as an On Iowa! Leader. I have a friend who applied to RA with me and will have an interview; I also have a friend who applied for On Iowa! and was not accepted.

While I’m going through all the above emotions for both positions, I think the important thing to remember is that everyone has unique talents and the people conducting the interviews only see a small side of those talents. There’s a position for everybody, you just have to keep trying and know that if you’re persistent, you will most likely get *something* and that something will be an awesome experience.

On that note, I’m am SUPER EXCITED to be an On Iowa! Leader. I’m excited to meet all the other leaders for this year and meet the new freshman next fall! It will be a great way to meet new people and get more involved with university events. It will also help me develop my leadership skills further to help prepare me for other opportunities. So, for any incoming freshman, see you next fall! 🙂

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