Rejected by Chevening ('22/'23): Moving on (Part 1)

(This is a post I shared on LinkedIn in 2022. I'm sharing this here with the hope that people who got rejected not to feel discouraged by the rejection. This is Part 1 of how I moved on. Go read Part 2 and Part 3 here)

It's time to celebrate rejection so here is my rejection speech.

So as you can see in the email, I got rejected by Chevening, the most prestigious leadership-oriented scholarship sponsored by the UK government. I'm the type that likes to venture into new things, for the experience, for personal and professional development. Just to challenge myself. So applying for this scholarship consists of that type of experience. Even though I've been rejected, this doesn't beat the number of times people have said to me about the potential that I have in terms of leading, initiating, or making a change - no matter how small. I honestly have lost count. In fact, one of those people was the one who encouraged me to apply as I'd never heard of the scholarship before hahaha. There are also people who have said to me 'I hope you'll get it, Zell.' upon telling them that I was planning to apply and got selected to attend the interview session. Some of them were even confident that I will get selected, even when I was not confident myself. But alas, I didn't succeed. But to me, that shows how people around me have that much faith in my capabilities and potential as a leader, although I don't like to always claim myself as such (Sometimes it felt cringey. Haha). So this is why, upon reading the email at 5 am on 1st July 2022, not an inch of disappointment or sadness consumed me. I also do not place my self-worth or leadership capabilities on whether or not I get selected for this scholarship.

On another note, I got accepted into University College London for 'MA Education (Citizenship)' for the 2022/2023 term. However, due to not getting selected for the scholarship, and not being able to self-fund my studies, I had to withdraw the offer. Despite everything, it's good to know that my application and personal statement were considered for the program. This does not stop me from indulging in their reading materials and applying them in my civic and citizenship integration in the classroom (civically-esl.blogspot.com) because I'm still able to access them.

I have shared a lot about my successes. But here is one failure worth sharing and archiving because life is not all about successes (we know this but in the social media era, we tend not to share our failures while looking at the bright side of it). Although I've failed to get selected, I've not failed at life. In fact, I'm quite excited and optimistic about what's to come for me in the near future. So, no need to feel sorry for me. I can still pursue what I advocate for and my aspirations even without the scholarship or studying at UCL.

Congratulations to those who got selected! I'm genuinely happy for you guys! To those of us who have failed, we're not failures and we've not failed at being leaders. We just failed at the interview stage, which can be improved for the next round if we wish to reapply. As for me, will I apply for it again? Probably not. But sometimes life is unpredictable.

Chevening 'love letter'

Offer letter from University College London