form letters
Dear Mo,
On behalf of the selection committee I would like to thank you for your application for the 16th Annual SMU Japan Cultural Exchange Trip in May, 2006.
Your welcome - now, where is this form letter going? Good news or bad?
We were happy to receive many excellent applications from our students.
Great, I was eager to submit my application, so I'm glad that you were happy to receive it - seems like a positive and reciprocal relationship thus far.
The selection was a difficult one because of the many qualified individuals applying.
Uh oh... Now you are trying to get me to rationalize any impending decision by making me sympathetic to the challenges of your difficult decision...
I regret
Have no regrets! Just accept me, give me the 2,000 scholarship and send me to Japan
to inform you that
no need to elaborate, I see where this is going.
you have not been selected for the 2006 Japan Cultural Exchange Trip.
LAME!!!
If you have any further questions concerning the above...
Oh, you'll be hearing from me. I'm not sure how I was refused - to be honest I'm not crying right now, I'm laughing. The scholarship was supposedly granted on a basis of academic accomplishment, knowledge of multicultural issues, knowledge of Asian culture, willingness to promote the international studies program on campus, and travel experience. I have a stellar GPA, I've been hosting diversity workshops for three years, I have volunteered with international students for three years, and I have spent the past year of my life wholly dedicated to the study of Japanese language and culture (including the 5 months I lived over there!)
I simply can't imagine what disqualified me as a candidate?
Have my sassy political actions alienated me from some remote all-powerful administrator?
Did someone disapprove of my controversial research project about Japanese abortion?
Did they hear about my tendencies to break curfew and celebrate my 21st birthday while living in the super-strict MWU dormitories?
I have no clue; per usual. I'm disappointed as hell - but all the more hell-bent on getting back to Japan by other means.
posted by Mo @ 1:42 PM
3 Comments:
what is that saying that misery loves company? in this case, rejection loves company. i got the same letter this afternoon, right after i read your blog. can't say i'm as shocked as you since not too many people around here know my face let alone my name. it coulda been great- me, you, and Dr. B dancing to Koto music, sucking down Saki. but alas, i'll have to get my Japanese groove on another time..... peace Mo,
Cholee
Merry Christmas Mo. It snowed pretty hard yesterday, so it felt a little more like a PNW Christmas.
When I was 22, I had an opportunity to teach in Germany. It fell through at the last minute, and I didn't know what to do. I followed my instinct to Japan. "Right on"! Ten years and three kids later, best "fell through" that ever happened to me.
The window will open soon.
Heiwa,
Christopher
Merry Christmas, Mo!
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