When I started this blog, I promised to be honest about my successes and failures in the Kittchen, and I've actually enjoyed sharing my mistakes with you. I believe that it makes me a better cook and a better person to mess up and have to examine what I could have done better.So in the spirit of full disclosure, I'm taking a major bruise to the ego tonight by publicly declaring that I was rejected by NYU Steinhardt's Master of Food Studies program. Which sucks.
I'll admit that it doesn't suck as much as I thought it would. I've actually been surprised by my brain's behavior in this case; normally, when I want something, I obsess over it until I get it or my hopes are crushed. With the NYU application, though, I was always a little detached, as though my brain knew that maybe taking on a bazillion dollars worth of debt in this economy might not be the best choice.
Still, it's not so fun to check the mail very regularly for two months only to receive a skinny-ass envelope from NYU with a bland rejection letter in it. I graduated Magna Cum Laude from college, I speak French, I teach high school students, I write well, and I have a pretty obvious passion for food. So, yeah, I think I made a pretty good candidate, and I'll admit that I was a little surprised to be rejected. The whole idea of Food Studies seemed like such a perfect way to transition from teaching to a career more closely related to food.
But then again, there's probably a good reason for this rejection. I was devastated not to get into Bates when I applied to colleges, but going to Dickinson allowed me to 1) meet some of my best friends in the world, 2) live in France for a year, and 3) be (relatively) close to T all through college, which made our long-distance relationship livable. In retrospect, would I give up the best experiences in my life to go to college in Maine? No. So I'm hopeful that there's a fantastic reason chilling out there, waiting to make itself known to me when the time is right.
One last thing: I was particularly proud of my personal statement, especially after the colleague whose writerly opinion I respect the most read it and told me she loved it. So I thought I'd share it in a separate post, for anyone who's curious.
Whew! Glad I got that off my chest.
I remember being crushed when I didn't get early acceptance at Middlebury and then got rejected again in their general admission. I thought it was the only right place for me. Now it seems as though it would have been a really bad place to spend 4 years, and I'd have missed out on a lot of good things that happened instead.
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