“We’re going in a different direction” is a tricky phrase, but one that employers always have autosaved in their emails. It’s not exactly an insult, but it’s also not a compliment. In all sincerity, the person (who definitely isn’t hiring you) just wants to go in a different direction. A direction that is far away from you. When I first read this phrase in a rejection email, I was eager to reply back with a list of alternatives. “What direction are you going in, and why can’t I come?” “Can I take an Uber there?” “Could you drop me a pin, and I’ll meet you?” “If I brought snacks would you change your mind?” These are the questions that haunted me at night.

Throughout the course of my junior year, it started to seem as though I was going on 50 first interviews. Every interview felt the same, sounded the same and even looked the same, up until I burned my “lucky” interview dress that apparently screamed, “You Definitely Don’t Want to Go in This Direction.” And though every interview came, and continues to come, with it’s own set of awkward conversations and uncomfortable moments, I’ve never stopped interviewing. You’ve got an internship? I’m applying for it. Fluency in French is required for the job? Well then call me mademoiselle and toss me the Rosetta Stone, s’il vous plait. I’ve started learning that every bad interview, every trip-up, every rejection and every failure are actually all successes — They are critical moments in life that teach me how to do it right.

While I rest assured knowing that every turndown is for my greater good, that doesn’t stop rejection from stinging like a sunburn. Misery loves company, which is why my favorite remedy for rejection is Googling “famous people who failed,” while eating a carton of chocolate ice cream and listening to a loop of Sarah McLaughlin songs. From my research, I have learned that Oprah Winfrey was fired from her first TV anchor job for being “too emotionally invested,” in her stories, and Thomas Edison was told he was “too stupid to learn anything,” by his teachers. If Oprah and Edison had let one person’s opinion of them dictate their path, we would have never had two of America’s most prized possessions: “Oprah’s Favorite Things” and electricity to watch it with.

So while every door around you might seem dead-bolted and spray-painted with the words, “CLOSED FOR ETERNITY,” I can guarantee you that with each door slammed in your face, another one is opening for you. Or perhaps it’s a small corner window. Or a crawl space. Or the HVAC system. But no matter what, there’s always an opening to opportunity — You’ve just got to look for it. The University of Alabama consistently sends well-rounded, productive, money-making contributors to society into the world, who were once students afraid of ever going into a single interview. Believing in this truth provides me with a great amount of relief in the moments where it seems everyone’s door is opening but mine.

There are still some days that I consider getting a compass tattooed on my wrist. Firstly, so I can look hip and trendy and fit in at Heritage House. Secondly, so I can find whatever direction everyone is going in that I’m not invited to. But the reality is, not everyone is going to go in my direction and that’s OK. Set your own path. Be who you are and someone will meet you there. As the queen of success herself, Leslie Knope, phrases it, “One person’s ‘annoying’ is another person’s ‘inspiring and heroic.’ ”

Morgan Nicodemus is a senior majoring in public relations. Her column runs biweekly.