Rejected, but not down

Rejection, by Mouse

I didn’t get the Tippie Tweet scholarship.  I got the rejection in an e-mail lastnight.  My reaction was better than Iwould have thought.  I just looked at it and thought, “Huh.  Well, that decision is made.”

If I had gotten the scholarship I would have had two weeksto get my act together and get to Iowa.  That would have meant immediate notice for my bosses, somehow tracking down a place to live, packing up my stuff (leaving behind a whole lot), finding a way to pay for living expenses, and leaving my husband and dogs for an undetermined period of time.
During the four days I waited to find out, I said I wasn’t going to worry about all that, but I fretted anyway.  I surreptitiously checked on houses and apartments, thought about what cookware I’d bring with me (“Thank heaven I have two blocks of good knives,” I thought to myself—like Alex ever uses a filleting knife.), and wondered how in the heck I’d get my stuff there and into a living space without any help.  Alex and I even had a small tiff over what would happen to his eating habits if I left.  (He said he lived without me before and would be fine.  I know he ate nothing but junk and whatever he could heat up or deep fry.)

So, I guess you could say the rejection resulted more in relief than disappointment.  Don’t get me wrong—I’m disappointed.  I would love to
have had a whole year of school paid for, and the program ranks pretty well, so I would have had a good name behind the MBA.  But Iowa City
was never my first choice, and I never liked the thought that Alex might not be able to join me there.  If the contest had been for fall 2012 and I had time to plan, I think I would have been much sadder about the results.

But, I made it through one application process, so I can make it through more.  I got an interview, so I know I was a contender and that makes me feel pretty good.

The next step is writing all those application essays for October.  It’ll be good to do them in a month instead of a week.  Oh, yeah, and I
get to pay attention to my personal stuff again.  Things are looking up!

P.S. – After writing this I read the little article Tippie posted on the winner.  I now feel totally inadequate and not the contender I thought I was.

Note to self: Don’t do that again.