I have been thinking about this post for a while. However I feel compelled to write in the midst of emails that I have received from some applicants that didn’t make it off the waitlist this year. My heart truly goes out to these candidates and others who will not be attending Tuck this fall.
Despite it not seeming like I can possibly understand the disapointment you feel, I absolutely can. This winter, I took a pretty nasty fall while attempting to ski and it turned my entire world upside down. In addition to not partaking in a winter activity I had built my schedule around, I had to admit that I was “older” because I was unable to heal the injury and the half marathon I started training for in the fall, seemed out of my reach. It has made me sad. I also think it impacted my relationships – including my relationship with you, because the disappointment I felt made it difficult to blog.
Although this disappointment seems small, it is not the first time I’ve been disappointed. I find myself at Tuck as a result of a HUGE disappointment. Prior to Tuck, I had my dream job – I was building and leading an organization in mainland China. Personally and professionally, I was satisfied. Soon after I had been asked to extend my time in China through 2011, I was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease. For the first time in my life, I had to choose between career and health and ironically it was a tough decision.
I chose my health. As a result I immediately returned to the United States and left my dream job behind. It is only now after several surgeries and recognizing the limitations that my eye disease had placed on my life that I can say, I made the correct choice returning to the United States. But it also led to another tough choice. I had to leave my company and my home to pursue all of the elements of a career that I had loved and had lost.
So you see, Tuck was in some ways my second choice. I write this so that you understand, even those of us who may appear to have the very thing you want are sometimes on an equally difficult journey. The only thing you control is what you do in this situation. In my case, I am still looking forward to running my first half marathon, although I don’t think I will finish anywhere near where I would have, had I remained injury free. I am also looking forward to and thankful for the career path I’ve created out my initial disappointment. It is truly something that would not have been possible, had I not lost my dream job.
I guess what I am saying is that I am thankful for the disappointment. It gave me the opportunity to decide what was important to me and pursue it in a way that would not have been possible in the absence of disappointment.
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