A Rejection? Okay, sit down. Let’s talk.

So, if this is your first rejection, I want to say I’m really sorry you didn’t get what you were trying to go for. It is hard. It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to get embarrassed or to feel really upset. Super angry. All of that. Not getting something we really hoped for is more than devastating the first time, and I want to say, “good on you for trying, when others don’t even try because they’re afraid of the pain of being rejected.”

If this is the norm, where you are getting rejection after rejection, and it’s not like you’re doing the same thing trying to get into the same company or anything, I want you to sit down and stop trying for the time we are together, okay? Stop trying. Stop. I love you. Stop. That’s not normal, and I don’t want you to get more hurt. Let’s just sit here and we can be with others who also have been rejected and they think you’re like a hero because you’re still in the ring fighting when they’re pretty sure they would have been KO’d last year.

So, rejections on an objective level just mean that we didn’t get what we wanted.

The question we have to think about is, “Is it the rejection that hurts? Like no one wants me? Or is it like people don’t see what I have to offer? Or is it I have no idea what in the world people want anymore?”

I remind everyone that internal and external politics exist in places outside of the Whitehouse, and that every person is pretty much a walking political minefield, filled with personal beliefs, philosophies, cultural learnings, and more. It’s everywhere, and you are not the first to be rejected, nor will you be the last.

So, beyond the “I need a paycheck” upset. Where are we?

“I really want that company,” means…what?

Do you want that company, or is it that if you got the same acknowledgement from that company’s competition, you’d go there?

Companies do tend to sniff out our intentions rather quickly, just by looking at our portfolios.

You are amazing at drawing, literally every single existing big name AAA company that’s out there. You have worked at 1 of them previously, and you have just applied to the other 2. Guess what those other two are going to do?

Look at you?

Oh no! No way.

They’ll be eyeing the other AAA company thinking, “If I say yes first, are you gonna ditch us for them in 2 years?!”

I mean, if we had all of our applications in front of everyone, we’d be seeing stars!

When you apply, try to apply for a broad range of companies. If you are usually flitting around the Indie game company scene, try for a big name company! Just because your name is fresh.

If you have already been working at a big name or multiple big name companies in the past, and you’re just trying to get back into one of them, think small. Go Indie! Even if it feels like you’re gonna be flung off of their survival rollercoaster in a year.

In a year, you might get into that other big name company you never worked for, because they see you have switched it up in your CV, and you know how to work with small companies because you worked in one for a year. Someone might want to put you with working with the AAA company’s contracted artists, etc.

If you are a student and you are trying to get your art or writing recognized in a particular magazine or platform, and you got a rejection, and you see that even the college kids are frustrated for not being able to get their work into their college magazines, I want you to think with me.

Who is the editor of said magazine? Do you know?

How many people are on said editor’s team? 1? 2? Maybe 4?

These magazines and platforms are usually very small, and they are controlled by one person for a very long time. Sometimes, it’s 2 years, because editor positions go to upperclassmen, even in college, and it’s a junior or a senior running the gig, and they always pick the one who is just like them.

Same clothes, same favorite drinks, same favorite mochas!

Same looks, same height, same eyes, same everything!

If you do not look like said editor, and you don’t like Jane Austen the way she does….well?

Guess what, all 4 years, you are going to get rejected.

It has nothing to do with you.

It has everything to do with that editor and her picks after her!

In these cases, I would say, post all of your submissions on your own website. But before you do! Get a copyright for all of your art and writing pieces.

We get the copyright, even though it’s a bit of money, because it matters to protect your first works fiercely. Especially your high school and college stuff.

Teachers and professors are ideally, wildly inspired by their students. In a crooked world, those same people can take the ideas of their students, especially those who are in college creating great work. This isn’t to say your teacher is bad! Your teacher may be paranoid that there are bad teachers in the world who might hurt you.

So! For every piece of art or writing that got rejected, that you love, that you think is absolutely perfect, my high school and college kids…

I want you to get a copyright for them, and I want you to publish them on your own website, which Mom and Dad can help you buy a domain name that you can use until you are older and you can decide how you want to design your website, your look, your aesthetic, and your artistic taste.

In fact, it’s better to start that when you’re in school, because once you come out, you can also add your own personal artist website into the mix and you’re not just relying on your one art portfolio to pull for you in your job applications to small or big companies for work.

What distinguishes you from every other art student out there after college?

Your portfolio?

Nope!

All student art portfolios look the same, because you all had the same assignments and projects.

Your website, with all of the hard work you put into your pieces will speak louder on your behalf than your art portfolio.

Try it. If you are really upset. So upset that you want to quit?

I want you to try your own website. Get a taste for real victory by getting your copyright sent to you, in the mail or by email. You never know who will bring you on board to their team because they loved the uniqueness and the beautiful voice you had while a student.

For my professionals, I can only guess to tell you that it was probably a bad match or a bad mood in the case of whoever made the decisions.

If it is a scenario where you are frustrated that none of your work is being acknowledged, I can suggest the usual stuff that most people say, putting your art presence on social media platforms, etc.

If it is a scenario that you just don’t feel like you fit anywhere, but you don’t want to compromise your aesthetic, then I would suggest you go the personal website way, and really work on making that shine.

It is possible that you are geared for an independent existence, where you become creative director of your IP one day, and you are just feeling the pangs of wanting to go independent.

For others, I give you the tell-tale story of one of my college professors, who was a school principal before he became an Education professor. He applied to school after school, and no school wanted to have him as principal. He got his first rejection. His second. His fifth. His twenty second. His forty sixth. His sixty ninth. His seventy first. His eighty third. His ninety ninth.

He was ready to quit.

He told his wife, “I’m done. I give up. No way I’m going to be a principal of a school.”

On try 100, he got his first acceptance.

He told that story to us in class, and I remember he teared up even while telling us the story. I remember that when we asked him what he’d advise us to do when we get our rejections for being teachers at the schools in our states, he said,

“Don’t ever give up. It might take a hundred times.”

And then he added,

“Make everything better than the way you found it.”

For you, who struggle with getting rejections, how will you make everything better than the way you found it?

Will you take a break?

Will you try for a different art school?

Will you try for a different team?

Will you work on your project again?

You need to have something for you. A rejection is tough. Very hard. Hurts!

So, because you hurt, what will you do to feel better again?