Post by Jenna Stevens

6 years ago today, I was rejected from Cambridge University 📚 And it changed the course of my life… Growing up, I was hooked on academic excellence 👩‍🎓 - High grades 📝 - Smiles and ‘well dones’ from teachers 🧑‍🏫 - Trying to make my parents proud 🧑‍🧑‍🧒 After school clubs, summer study schools…I did it all ✍️ I went through the entire Cambridge Uni process → only to be rejected at the final stage And ngl - it broke my heart like nothing else ever has 😅 But this moment made me realise something HUGE: → I was addicted to validation ✔️ I wasn’t able to recognise my own hard work - or feel proud of myself 👩🏼‍💻📚 I needed someone else to validate it 👫 And I realised this: Why should an institution dictate my value as a person? 🏫 Being rejected allowed me to realise - I was a hard worker, intelligent, creative… 🎨 And for the first time - I recognised that in MYSELF 👩🏼 → without needing to hear it from someone else I went on to study with the The Open University → I went from needing A*AA to get into Cambridge - to a uni open to all, with no minimum entry grades And it’s the best thing I’ve ever done Studying with the OU: I hopped on my first ever solo plane journey ✈️ took my laptop and studied around the world 💻 and graduated with a First Class Honours 👩‍🎓 Now I’m a Travel Journalist ✈️ → And if I’d have gone to Cambridge, I wouldn’t have my travel experience under my belt! 🌍 Crazy how things work out, hey? So this is your reminder: Craving external validation won’t help you But recognising your own worth will ✔️