My Rejection Diaries.

As the bus drove past The Command Children School, Enugu on our way to Abakaliki, I was reminded of the series of rejections I had suffered in the past.
I was about 10 and at that age, I was just ripe for the Secondary School and the choice my Father made which was of course consented to by me was the Nigerian Navy Secondary School, Portharcourt.
That choice was strange to me because I had always wanted to attend a Federal Government College but then the prospects of going to Portharcourt and of course, attending what was obviously a more elite school than the Federal Government College I would have loved to attend was obviously more appealing to me.
Cut the long story short, I went to Enugu with my father to write the exam and as a side attraction, I slept in a hotel for the first time in my life... The exam was about the easiest I had written in my life at that time but strange as it sounds, I never knew or my performance till date...No Result, and of course, no admission.
And that was how I suffered one of my first rejections in my life.
But that was not the first: As I said earlier, from childhood, I always wanted to attend a Federal Government College perhaps we a result of the influence of my older cousins, most of whom graduated from Federal Government Colleges.
Year was 2004 and I was just about 9 and in Primary 4 when I expressed my interest in moving straight to Secondary School from Primary 4. Of course, my Parents readily accepted the idea and they all agreed that I should give it a try.
Well, let's say that I have always been a bright Chap(lol) and this was evident in my performance in the entrance examination which trumped those of most of my Seniors in Primary School.
Having excelled in the Federal Common Entrance Examination, the next stage was the Interview which would determine whether I was eligible for admission...Well, let's just say that I couldn't make it as I was not admitted to the College of my Dream that year. That particular episode was my very first experience of rejection in my life and from then, I began to appreciate that Life is not always Black and White: sometimes, it could be grey as I discovered later that some folks who I performed better than were actually admitted.
Maybe, after those huge rejections I experienced when I was less than Ten Years Old, the gods of rejection decided that they should give me ample time to prepare for subsequent rejections that awaited me.
And so it was that I eventually got into Secondary School from Primary Five at 11: throughout this period, I can't really remember suffering any major rejection.
Well, like I said, the gods of rejection held their calm through out my Secondary School but they barely waited for me to graduate from Secondary School before pummelling me with all sorts of rejection from Left, Right and Centre.
From Secondary School and with the influence of my Big Friend, Kenechuku, I made up my mind that my University Education would certainly be outside the Eastern Part of Nigeria where I'm from and where I had spent virtually all of my life, the only exception being the time(s) I went on Holidays at Portharcourt which by the original arrangement of the Nigerian Federation, was under the Eastern Region of Nigeria.
Precisely, the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife was my First Choice University and it only took persuasion from my Father before I decided to have the Abia State University as my Second Choice University.
For a brief moment, it seemed as though the gods of rejection were going to just forget me but then, they had other plans: after weeks of fasting and prayers, I was eventually admitted to study Law at Ile Ife but then, it was a tad worthless as I didn't have the minimum O-Level requirement of at least, a Credit in Mathematics, and I was constructively rejected.
I experienced different episodes of rejection that year I left Secondary School as the gods of rejection were obviously in what I'd call red hot form in my life but then, they had nothing on me.
But then again, I'm tempted to tell this tale of rejection that most boys have experienced at one point or the other in their lives : the kind that no matter how smooth a talker you are, you would have experienced at one point or the other: the kind that does not discriminate.
For obvious reasons(whether obvious to you or not), I won't be saying the time I experienced this emotional rejection.
There was this belle or "shawty" as my friend, Jandy would refer to them as who I was tempted to ask. I'm sure that the gods of rejection were playing ping pong over my head when I decided to ask her.
Well, from the way I'm narrating it, it's obvious that it ended in shame for me... This belle made me the Chief Security Officer of Her Local Government Zone. Each time, I remember that episode, I just want to "jump up and die".
And then, there was this time that I wrote what I'd consider a brilliant article and subsequently sent it to ynaija.com to help me publish... Well, it didn't end well: no reply from them to tell me that they wouldn't be publishing my article and no acknowledgement of receipt of my article- that was painful too.
Boy, it's been tough but I have learnt from these rejections.
Sometimes, we put in our best efforts but somehow, they end up not being enough to meet with the requirements.
Sometimes, we push all the right buttons but the door just doesn't open for us.
When these things happen, we don't give up!
No! We don't give up!
We just push harder, knowing full well that there's a height that is expected of us to attain.
We push harder, knowing that there's a minimum standard which we must prevail over.
When we are rejected, we don't just sulk and cry!
We fight! We look to do better!  We decide not to be brought down by the failures we experience.
As humans on the voyage of life, the road is not always smooth: sometimes, there are potholes, other times, there are police check points, some other times, the Masquerade stops us, and of course, there are times that the car just breaks down.
When these hiccups occur, allowing them to stop us permanently is fatal to our cause(s). Also, when we are rejected, we try again.
While I am certainly not a standard for prevailing above difficult situations and painful rejections, I must add that When I suffered my first rejection, I didn't give up on education and that much shows that if you keep trying with a view to improving, you'll overcome the rejection.