Prompt #3A

My Silver Lining
I have concentrated all of my efforts for so many years, in and out of school, on doing whatever I could to place myself in the best position to secure admission to the college of my dreams.  After a substantial amount of research, I determined that USC is just that - the college of my dreams.  This past Saturday, I sat before the computer with my parents behind me (as they have been throughout this entire experience), opening the letter that I believed would be reflective of all of my hard work and accomplishments; the letter that would determine where I was going for the next four years of my life; the letter that would prove that all of my efforts had finally paid off.  Needless to say, when I read the letter denying my admission, it really hit me hard.  I began to shake uncontrollably as tears poured down my face.  I'm embarassed to share this with you, because this is not me.  This is not who I am; but I had invested all of me, emotionally, into this one goal, and I had never before experienced failure to something that meant this much to me. On top of this crushing experience, there was more to follow.  There were so many people eager to hear whether or not I had been accepted.  I was dreading all of the inevitable conversations with family and friends.  After spending a considerable amount of time feeling sorry for myself and questioning what I could have done differently, I reached one conclusion: I can either dwell on my failures, or I can use them as motivation to try even harder.  I realized that everyone fails at some point in life, but it is how we overcome these failures that define who we are.  This was my silver lining.  I put the peices together.  Everything happens for a reason, and I have yet to discover mine.  However, I believe I will find my answers within my experience in Urbana-Champaign next year at U of I.  I know that I am an immensely hard-working and determined person. I know that, if afforded the opportunity to attend, I will excel at USC; and more importantly, make a significant contribution to the impressive list of alumni who have attended.  I am not giving up on my dream of attending USC.  I am determined to do whatever it takes. Until then, however, I am looking forward to attending U of I, and discovering the reason I wasn't supposed to go to California just yet. 

E v e r y t h i n g   h a p p e n s   f o r   a   r e a s o n .

W h a t ' s  m e a n t  t o  b e ,  w i l l  b e.