Newton South Learns to Accept Rejection
I don’t remember worrying that much about my college acceptance letters. Maybe I was less driven than my peers, but I only applied to three schools and got the thick letters of acceptance from all of them. (Thanks again, Emerson!)
So maybe I’m not the best person to tell kids at Newton South High School that they should calm down about their rejection letters.
The Globe reports that the school has a dedicated “Wall of Shame” for seniors to post the one-page letters that send their identities into a tailspin.
“These are kids who are used to getting their way their whole lives,” said Newton South college counselor Barbara Brown. “For many, this is their first major disappointment. That can be very difficult, especially in a community like this.”
Can a human being can live for 18 years and never experience a major disappointment? That seems impossible. Maybe those parents that tell people not to give their kids birthday presents are on to something.
In this month’s issue of Boston magazine, we write about the proliferation of classes schools offer to teach teenagers how to relax. Back in my day, educators had to instruct us to get motivated and accomplish something. My, how the times have changed.
April 8th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
If the kids are posting these ego-IEDs up on a bulletin board they must not be having that hard a time dealing with them.
April 8th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
This can be chalked up to all those youth soccer games with no scores, the awarding of prizes to everyone; there are no losers, etc. Eventually, everyone experiences rejection. It’s part of life. Live with it!
April 9th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
To the writer of the first comment:
I am a senior at Newton South High School and I myself have posted a rejection letter up on that board. It was not because of my huge ego. It was anything but. Dealing with rejection is much easier in a group. Posting my letter was almost therapeutic and I am sorry that you have to warp it into something petty.