(April 1, 2011) -- Since the start of the month, I have developed a peculiar, obsessive need to check my e-mail every 15 minutes, often resulting in a mini-panic attack every time I see that my inbox contains one new, unread e-mail, which, more often than not, is not the e-mail I’m hoping for.

So last Friday, when I saw the acronym in the subject line that I had so eagerly been awaiting since November, I nearly fell from my seat.

After opening the e-mail, I logged onto Facebook, where, as I expected, triumphant, excited statuses followed one after the other. I’m ashamed to admit that I participated in the ecstatic foolery. Luckily, I was brought back to reality by a call from a friend.

“I didn’t get in,” she said.

I immediately filled our conversation with “It’s their loss,” and “They don’t know a good thing when they see it,” and “Don’t let this define you,” and a host of other consolatory remarks I knew wouldn’t bring comfort to her. I had been through the feeling before; nothing anyone says can make up for the utmost disappointment one feels at the pit of his or stomach when the first sentence starts with any other word but “Congratulations!”

I realize now what I should have said to her last week. Instead of empty consolatory remarks, I should have just told her to let it go. I’ve learned that, as hard as it is to believe, getting rejected from a dream school really doesn’t matter. Going to a prestigious university will not guarantee success, and rejection from a big-name university won’t guarantee failure, either. One’s success is determined not by the school he or she goes to, but the actions they put forth while attending that school.

Sounds blasphemous, right? A brainwashed multitude of students are led to believe that their entire worth and the course of their future are defined by numbers on a transcript, numbers on a score report, and the number next to the ranking of the college they will attend this fall. They don’t realize that these numbers don’t mean anything. I only wish the people at the admissions office could have met my friend and known the person they were rejecting, not the set of numbers one mechanically types into the application. They would have changed their decision in a heartbeat.

Our primary goal in high school is to learn and grow as individuals. One cannot grow as an individual if their primary concern is filling up an impressive resume.

To those of you lucky individuals who got in, congratulations. But be sensitive to the deserving group of students who didn’t have the same luck as you. Be proud in your acceptance, but do so quietly. Know that if anyone else had read your application, you might not be in such an ecstatic situation.