Got Rejected? It Might Be Time to Celebrate

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 28 January 2022

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Rejection is normal and happens to all of us, but it still never feels good to get that email or call from an admissions officer or potential employer saying you weren’t “the one.” In a recent article for The Atlantic titled “A Toast to All the Rejects,” NPR producer Rhaina Cohen writes about the power of turning one’s rejections into a celebration with friends or colleagues. Cohen’s article was inspired by a graduate student lab at UC Irvine led by social sciences professor Barbara Sarnecka where they created a group spreadsheet to collect everyone’s rejections from jobs, academic journals or grants. When they reached 100 rejections as a group, they threw a party. “Instead of shying away from rejection, they’re asking us to run straight toward it—and to do so together,” writes Cohen. We explore the idea of reframing – and even celebrating – rejection. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for Key QBD Podcasts comes from San Francisco International Airport. At SFO, you can shop, dine, and unwind before your flight. Go ahead, treat yourself. Learn more about SFO restaurants and shops at flysafo.com. Switch to Comcast Business Mobile and save hundreds a year in your wireless bill. Comcast business powering possibilities.
0:22.4	Restrictions apply.
0:23.1	Comcast business internet required.
0:24.5	Comparse two unlimited intro lines and lowest price 5D plans of top three carriers.
0:27.5	Tax on fees extra, reduce speeds after 30 gigabytes of usage.
0:29.8	Data thresholds may vary.
0:32.1	From KQED.
0:35.1	Welcome back to Forum.
0:36.5	I'm Mina Kim.
0:55.0	What if, instead of hiding our rejection letters, we shared them with others and they shared theirs with us? What if we tallied all the times we were turned down for jobs or scholarships and celebrated them? With parties, like we do other milestones. That's what a group of graduate students at UC Irvine did.
0:59.0	Two great benefit, apparently.
1:01.0	And joining me now is Barbara Sarneka,
1:04.0	a professor of cognitive sciences and associate dean of graduate studies
1:07.0	and research for social sciences at UC Irvine. Welcome to Forum, Dr. Sarnika.
1:13.0	Hi, thank you for having me. Also with us is Raina Cohen, producer and editor at NPR,
1:18.6	who recently wrote a piece about what UC Irvine did for The Atlantic titled A Toast to All the Rejects.
1:25.9	Raina Cohen, thanks so much for being with us as well.
1:28.8	Very happy to talk about rejection.
1:31.1	So Barbara Sarnika, I will start with you.
1:34.5	You and a group of graduate students did what I just described in this introduction,
1:38.0	began sharing and logging your rejections as a group.
1:40.9	First, tell us how this came to be.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.