Monday, March 24, 2008

Y'all, Rejection and "Still Got It"

Y'all:
The kids and I went for a little walk in NC State's teaching forest yesterday after church. As we were walking along Jane and Paul were whacking limbs and weeds that stuck out in the trail. Jane kept saying, "Y'all branches are rude!" I said, "Jane where did you learn all of this y'all stuff?" "The kids on the bus. They are always saying 'y'all, y'all, y'all.' Like, 'Y'all be stupid!'" Y'all branches are rude? It's tough to sound any more Southern than that.

Rejection
A couple of weeks ago I got my first rejection letter for a job application. I didn't mind; in fact, I was glad this school was courteous enough to send the letter. I've had other applications out for longer than this one and have yet to hear anything. So they were still good in my book until I got another rejection letter . . . from the same school. I guess they didn't want me to even dream of considering working for them.

Still Got It
I sang a solo with the ward choir yesterday for our Easter service. I had a cold, so we had to lower a few of the notes, but it still turned out really well. Singing in church is one of my favorite things to do. It's a blessing to have church as an excuse to sing solos a few times a year.

8 comments:

  1. at least she didn't say "ya'll branches BE rude." I might be a little concerned at that point.
    And I was just thinking yesterday in church that I love how we sing so much. It's great to get a chance to sing so regularly.

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  2. Sing, give talks, teach lessons, go camping with crazy kids, clean public restrooms . . . Think of all the things you might not do regularly if you weren't Mormon.

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  3. so true. I'd never have a chance to teach 50 kids, ranging in age from 4 to 12 for an entire hour. Boy that would be a shame, right?
    And I probably wouldn't ever teach a whole room full of adult women either, or speak in front of as many people as we do in sacrament meeting.
    It's interesting...

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  4. Rob, a word to the wise: don't keep those rejection letters around. I kept all of mine, thinking it would be good to have them all in one place for filing purposes. Not a good idea. Nothing's more depressing than a drawer full of official declarations of your mediocrity.

    Throw them out.

    I was pretty annoyed by a couple of departments that sent me rejection letters after I had accepted this position and withdrawn my name from consideration at their loser schools. Stupid SUU Economics Department, you didn't reject me, I rejected you!

    Umm, yeah, so it hurts, and it never stops hurting.

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  5. Oh yeah, I tossed those bad boys. I just keep a spreadsheet that has everything I've applied to and the current status.

    But did you have schools that never sent you anything and just left you hanging?

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  6. Yeah, the spreadsheet is better than the letters.

    I had a few schools (Université Laval, I'm looking in your direction) who couldn't be bothered to send a rejection letter, but most did. I understand that the government and NGOs are the worst at acknowledging your existence, though. No confirmation of application, no rejection letter, nothing but a wire tap on your phone and an anonymous tip to Homeland Security (I assume).

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  7. I applied for two jobs at UVSC, that I was TOTALLY unqualified for, and they sent me two very nice rejection notices.

    I also applied for a couple of staff jobs at BYU, again not very qualified for, and got NOTHING rejection wise. Maybe professor type stuff is different, but I doubt you'll get something from everyone.

    Of course I'm about 5 years off from applying for professor type things...uhhh...

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  8. Dude, it is way past time to move out of North Carolina.

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