How to Overcome Rejection and Become a Better Art Student To learn how to overcome rejection, stop asking why you got rejected. Instead, focus on how you can improve and become an even better artist!
by Karen Kesteloot
Image by Daniel Kulinski at Flickr. Click here for the source page.
For those who got accepted into the best art and design programs, I’d like to once again extend my congratulations to all of you! Your passion and dedication into putting out an art portfolio that professors in the program loved paid off. For those who are unsuccessful in their application to the colleges and universities of their choice, I’d like to have a word with you. You might be wondering how and why you weren’t accepted by the program, assuming that you have sent in all the application requirements. You’ve waited day in and out to receive the mail that will determine the fate of your post-secondary education. You’ve opened the letter and let out a disheartened sigh when the program said that they unfortunately will not be taking you in as part of the program.
There is understandable anger, disappointment, and, most of all, confusion as to why you weren’t accepted. You’ve read every word of the letter, flipped it more than you could remember, and there’s nothing in it that tells you why your application wasn’t enough to get you into the program. There’s no constructive criticism or feedback that you could at least build on when you start anew with your designs and artworks. What you once thought were your best artworks is now put into different perspective after receiving the letter. You begin secondguessing yourself and questioning whether or not you’re really fit into going to art school and turning what you learned into a profession. All you’re left with is the empty feeling that keeps asking the question, “why?” Such is a bitter pill that you as unlucky students have to swallow. But let me tell you – things will only get better from here. I promise.
Why is there so much pressure to succeed?
Image by Matthew McVikar by Flickr. Click here to view image source.
When students receive good grades, teachers give them stars as a form of commendation. Exemplary students are paraded around campus and become testament to the effectiveness of the school’s academic program. The same thing goes for grown-ups. Successful people, from business to the entertainment industry, are covered extensively by the media. Bright lights follow them wherever they go as onlookers wait for what these great people have to do next.
In other words, a premium is set when people go beyond expectations. Being successful is an achievement that takes hard work and determination from a person. And for those who weren’t able to go beyond those expectations, let alone surpass it? They are cast aside and frowned upon because they weren’t cut out in becoming a success. Their low grades are indicative that milking out great performances from them in their education is not their highest priority. They simply become part of the crowd who neither stands out nor excels. Lack of success, by social standards, is viewed as one’s inability to be viewed as special, talented, and extraordinary. Not being able to have that distinction does not give them a sense of privilege and accomplishment. So when people are unable to become part of a prestigious group– in this case, not get accepted to their art and design schools of choice – they feel extremely disappointed.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself – act on it! Negative emotions can only get you so far. The best way to combat ill feeling after getting rejection is to simply pick up the pieces and put yourself back together. In other words, you need to just be better. If you have the passion for the arts, you will do everything under your power to be better. When acting, you need to understand about art is that it is a process. You only become great when you learn how to overcome rejection. Therefore, it is all about making the right adjustments on your art to improve how your ideas are communicated more properly and effective in your preferred medium.
To learn how to overcome rejection, click here or go to http://bit.ly/howtoovercomerejection for questions you need to answer for yourself.