It means opportunity and opening the lines of communication.

I am a Husky.

But I almost didn’t make it when I applied for a transfer after my freshman year at a college in Oregon. The rejection letter said that UW policy was to consider transferring out-of-state students only in their junior year.

Wait another year was the UW admissions director’s instruction.

No way! I didn’t want to wait even another hour.

Though I was devastated, I reread the letter.

A small line printed at the bottom stated that if I wanted to petition, I could. Immediately, I started typing.
In my letter, I told them about the goals I wanted to accomplish at the UW, my strong GPA, and the fact that I took more credits than anyone in my freshman class.

A few weeks went by, and another letter arrived in late May. It stated that a final decision would be made depending on my last quarter’s GPA. At that moment, I knew it was a sure win.

A friend got a rejection letter from the UW business school saying that his English was not good enough. Well, he produced evidence showing his writing ability — his published article in the Asian Weekly. The rest is history. He not only graduated, he is working successfully for an international company.

In retrospect, that rejection letter taught me valuable lessons. A “no” does not mean ”no.” It simply means “not now.” Get more information. If you give up easily, there is nothing else the other party can do. ♦