Rejection is Just Redirection: How Failing in School, Work, and Love Made Me Stronger

Rejection is just redirection.

One of the most valuable things I’ve learned in college? How to fail — and more importantly, how to turn rejection into fuel. And no, I don’t mean bombing every test while binge-watching Netflix in class. I mean putting your whole heart into something, falling flat on your face, and getting up anyway, wiser, tougher, and more determined.

Rejection in School

When I first moved 2,000 miles away to attend CU Boulder, I was thrilled for fresh independence, new friends, and those breathtaking Flatirons in my backyard. Everything was picture-perfect — until my first midterm. My macroeconomics lecture, with its 200 students, felt like a chaotic zoo. Every time I walked into that class, it felt like a sea of great white sharks waiting for the bait to slip down the stairs. I wasn’t used to this overstimulating chaos, and I could not concentrate. The result? A gut-punching 32% on my exam. Yep. You read that right.

Here lies the death of Grainne McCague’s Honor Roll. Long lived… perhaps not long enough (2016-2022). Rest in Peace to any dreamy visions of the Dean’s List. We remember this day as we watch any future job opportunities fly high. 

Naturally, as any other college freshman would, I was convinced my life was over. So I speed-dialed my mom (whose phone number fittingly ends in 911), sobbing that I’d live in her basement forever, as I was Googling “careers that don’t require a degree.” I could hear my mom laughing on the other end of the phone. She clearly thought I was being dramatic…I mean, what were you expecting when you decided to raise a teenage daughter?  

My mother, being all-knowing, just laughed and said four words that stuck: “Rejection is just redirection.”

At first, I wailed and abruptly hung up. But she was right (don’t tell her I said that). I quit pitying myself and started visiting my professor every week. I relearned every lesson until I drilled it so deep in my cranium that I still dream about supply and demand to this day. By semester’s end, my friends were burnt out, but I was laser-focused. I didn’t just pass: I aced that final and topped the class. Fully rejected. Fully redirected.

Rejection at Work

Sophomore year, I took a remote sales job for a custom apparel company, pitching merch to Greek life exec boards, aka, my social circle. The first few months? Brutal. Spam texts, blocked numbers, awkward DMs. I hated the idea of being “that girl” selling hoodies at fraternity parties.

But each “no” toughened me. For every order that fell through, I pushed for two more. When I ran out of contacts, I walked door-to-door down Pearl Street, pitching custom sweatshirts to local shops. Rejection stopped embarrassing me; it motivated me. That’s how I didn’t just hit my sales goal, but doubled it, setting a new record for the company.

Rejection in Love

It turns out rejection teaches the same lesson in relationships, though that one stings just as much. As Arthur Brooks writes, romantic love is risky business: a mix of breathtaking highs and crushing lows. The truth? Most people have about five serious relationships before they find lasting love. So, breakups are basically life’s required heartbreak credits.

But science says these failed loves are only useful if you learn from them. A 2018 study found that people who understood why a relationship ended had healthier, happier ones later. Those who didn’t? They repeated the same mistakes.

How to Make Any Rejection Work for You

Whether it’s school, work, or love, rejection can be your greatest mentor if you let it. Here’s how:

1. Study it like a scientist. Where did it go wrong? What did you overlook?

2. Take note. Be honest about your mistakes.

3. Stay hopeful. Remember: even the best hitters strike out. Even the most successful entrepreneurs fail again and again before they win. Apply those lessons to your future situations.

So, next time you bomb a test, miss a sale, or get your heart broken, don’t see it as the end of the world. Don’t victimize yourself; that just puts the power in someone else’s hands. Instead, see it as a redirection. I did. And it made me braver, smarter, and hungrier than ever.

Rejection stings, but redirection saves. Fail forward. Love forward. Keep learning.