Celebrating rejection? That’s exactly what happened at San Marcos on April 17th. Hosted by Mrs. Woodard in the College and Career Center, the purpose of this party is to normalize rejection. 

College admissions are as competitive as ever, and with that comes a higher likelihood someone could get rejected from their dream school. In an article from New York Post, author Rikki Schlott claims “There simply aren’t enough spots […] Take Harvard for example. They admitted 2,195 students into the class of 1982, which is more than the 1,937 admitted for 2028. Meanwhile, in that time, the population of the United States grew by about 100 million, and international students gobble up a far larger percentage of admissions offers than they used to.” Nobody likes having a pit of despair at the bottom of their stomach, so why normalize it?

“For many high achieving students, they haven’t been told no as they tend to work hard and achieve,” Woodard said “As an adult, though, you will apply to so many jobs and not get them, and the hiring manager won’t tell you why”.

This is the second year that the event has happened. In order to get an invite, you must show up to the door with a printed-out letter of rejection from a school. Upon entering, all students were met right away by a caring, home-y atmosphere set up by the people in the College and Career Center. Pizza and snacks sat at a table to the side, and a banner reading “It’s not where you go; It’s what you do when you get there!” was proudly displayed for all to see.

Once everyone had arrived, it was now time for the party to start. All students in attendance took their letter of rejection, and one by one, put them into a paper shredder, as if to decree “I am not defined by this letter!” The atmosphere in the room was lightened. 

“It felt strangely relieving to shred a rejection letter. I didn’t think it would make me feel better.” said Logan Dentinger, one of the students in attendance.

Rejection is all too common in the adult world. Most high schoolers have grown up in a bubble where there has not been much previous rejection, and that is why the pill of getting rejected from colleges can be so tough to swallow. 

The biggest issue is that many universities don’t select people based on ability or talent (to an extent). “College admissions is not a meritocracy.” Mrs. Woodard claims, “It’s really about the colleges and their institutional policies they are trying to fill. A student doesn’t know what a college is looking for that year.” 

So many people get their mind set on one particular college, just for their world to seemingly crumble if they don’t get in. Mrs. Woodard holds this Denial Party with the emphasis that it’s not a rejection; rather, a redirection. It may be a bummer to receive these rejections, but someone can be successful no matter what they do after high school. The lunch was wrapped up with one final message from Mrs. Woodard:

“Love the school that loves you back!”