I think there's a few underlying themes in this story:
1. Don't let others get in the way of what you want to do.
2. Rejection isn't the end, it's just a wall to climb over.
3. (This message was definately between the lines) Success takes hard work.
I know a lot of people I applied to school with and eventually graduated with felt entitled to a position to the program or to a job after graduation. But these same people bumbled through school, never really caring or putting in the work to complete the project the way it needed to be completed.
I'm right there with the author in saying never give up, but not giving up takes a lot of hard work and you can't forget that.
In the famous Last Lecture by Randy Pautsch, he said something to the effect that life puts obstacles between you and your goals to make sure you want it badly enough.
I think he actually said that the walls were to separate those who want it badly enough from those who don't. The point is not just that obstacles test you, but that they give you opportunity because others who want it less will give up and you will be the only one left.
I originally saw "fail upwards" in alpinist Mark Twight's writings[1] ten years before that: his sense is to keep going up and over the summit even when things have gone terribly wrong: you may no longer have the option to descend the way you came up.
[1] "Extreme alpinism" (passage can be found on google books)
1. Don't let others get in the way of what you want to do. 2. Rejection isn't the end, it's just a wall to climb over. 3. (This message was definately between the lines) Success takes hard work.
I know a lot of people I applied to school with and eventually graduated with felt entitled to a position to the program or to a job after graduation. But these same people bumbled through school, never really caring or putting in the work to complete the project the way it needed to be completed.
I'm right there with the author in saying never give up, but not giving up takes a lot of hard work and you can't forget that.