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Dealing with Academic and Career Disappointment

<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;collegecareerlife&period;net&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2009&sol;02&sol;Woman&lowbar;at&lowbar;Work&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3059" title&equals;"Working" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;collegecareerlife&period;net&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2009&sol;02&sol;Woman&lowbar;at&lowbar;Work&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"480" height&equals;"320" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;">Failing a test&comma; being turned down for a job&comma; and being laid off are all very difficult experiences for most people&period; The poor self esteem&comma; depression&comma; and anxiety that result from these events can make it hard to perform your best in the future&period; You tried so hard and weren&&num;8217&semi;t rewarded&comma; so why keep trying&quest; Don&&num;8217&semi;t let yourself get caught in the cycle of rejection&comma; depression&comma; and more rejection due to low motivation&period; Most people will come to a point where they face rejection or failure&period; How do you move past disappointments to reach your goals&quest; Some advice I can give from my own experience&colon;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>Think Long-Term<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;">If you quit now&comma; would you regret it a year from now&quest; Ask yourself if giving up is really worth it&period; If you&&num;8217&semi;re in an career or pursuing a degree that you know is not right for you&comma; then you should certainly try to make a change &lpar;after research and planning your next steps&rpar;&period;  Although I did well academically and even enjoyed my classes pursuing my first bachelor&&num;8217&semi;s degree&comma; <strong>I knew the career I was pursuing was not right for my personality<&sol;strong>&period; My current degree program is much more challenging &lpar;especially being a non-traditional student&rpar;&comma; but I feel that the career I&&num;8217&semi;m pursuing now fits my <strong>personality<&sol;strong> &lpar;introverted thinking&rpar; and <strong>values<&sol;strong> &lpar;stability&comma; independence&comma; growth&rpar;&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>Set Specific Goals<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;">Setting short-term and long-term goals will help you stay focused and will get your mind off of past disappointments&period; Also&comma; developing a proactive approach to solving your problems will ease depression and anxiety&period; Once you have some goals in mind&comma; determine the specific steps required to reach your goals&period; Hold yourself accountable by setting deadlines for each goal&period; <strong> Have a back up plan<&sol;strong> so that you don&&num;8217&semi;t get upset if something doesn&&num;8217&semi;t work out&period;  With the competitive job market&comma; I realize that I may not get a job in my chosen field immediately after completing of my degree&period;  Instead&comma; I plan to study for my CPA exam and pass a section or two&comma; which will make me more attractive to employers&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>Stay busy<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;">Learn a new language&comma; volunteer&comma; join a club&comma; or take some night classes at a community college&period; Volunteering can be a great way to meet new people and may even provide contacts or references for employment opportunities&period; I&&num;8217&semi;m currently learning Spanish on my own&comma; doing volunteer work and studying for the GMAT &lpar;although I probably won&&num;8217&semi;t go to graduate school immediately&rpar;&period; I have things to focus on so that I don&&num;8217&semi;t worry about factors that are out of my control &lpar;the economy&comma; job market&comma; etc&rpar;&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; bold&semi;">Talk to somebody<&sol;span><&sol;span><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;">Finding someone to talk to who has an objective view can be a great relief&period;  Most colleges have <strong>counseling services at <&sol;strong><strong>reduced prices or even for free<&sol;strong>&period;  Friends and family can be good listeners&comma; but they can be biased in their advice because they may have something invested in your decisions&period; If you have specific concerns about your academic performance or your career choice&comma; consider talking to a professor&comma; academic advisor&comma; or career counselor&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;">The truth is that success depends&comma; at least to some extent&comma; upon luck&period; Being in the right place at the right time&comma; having the right teacher&comma; or working for the right company&period; However&comma; <span style&equals;"font-weight&colon; bold&semi;">persistence <&sol;span>is another big part of success that you alone can control&period; Successful people experience disappointment and move on&period; They may change what they&&num;8217&semi;re doing or how they do it&comma; but they continue to strive toward a goal&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><&excl;--Digiprove&lowbar;Start--><span class&equals;"notranslate" lang&equals;"en" style&equals;"vertical-align&colon; middle&semi; display&colon; inline&semi; padding&colon; 3px&semi; line-height&colon; normal&semi; border&colon; 0px&semi;" title&equals;"certified 17 January 2011 01&colon;05&colon;45 UTC by Digiprove certificate P91232" ><span style&equals;"font-family&colon; Tahoma&comma; MS Sans Serif&semi; font-size&colon; 9px&semi; font-weight&colon; normal&semi; color&colon; &num;636363&semi; border&colon; 0px&semi; float&colon; none&semi; display&colon; inline&semi; text-decoration&colon; none&semi; letter-spacing&colon; normal&semi;"> Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011<&sol;span><&excl;--00FDACC692C4D7BA8E8D5E638569C9D5A216282B623908B64C994601662643D6--><&sol;span><&excl;--Digiprove&lowbar;End--><&sol;p>&NewLine;

Andrea: