I have been exposed to the word “rejection” several times in the past couple of weeks. I picked up the May issue of Good Housekeeping in which I was quoted in an article “How to Raise a Hopeful Child.” The issue of the magazine also contained a story “A Rejection Recovery Plan,” offering advice about dealing with rejection. A couple of days later I was filing several articles and among them was one that appeared in The Boston Globe with a subtitle “Resilience is a Key Asset when Rejection Is a Given.” The same week a woman approached me after I gave a presentation for parents and was teary as she said, “My son was just rejected from the two Ivy League schools he applied to. I don’t know why someone with his grades and extracurricular activities could have been turned down. I know he is devastated, so am I. I don’t know how to help him with being rejected. He has never been rejected before.” I wondered if he had been accepted at other colleges. She said yes and mentioned three colleges with excellent reputations. She added, “But they’re not Ivy League.” And just a few days ago I…
