Suzy Lee Weiss is a senior at Taylor Allerdice High School in Pittsburgh. She’s a typical student in just about every way, save for one. She’s been published in the Wall Street Journal.

Weiss’s column came at a time with which every high school senior is familiar: the infamous “hear back from colleges” period. And Weiss was as ambitious as they come; though she mentions no names, she makes direct reference to the Ivy League. But all she got for her ambitions was a slew of rejections.

What could have gone wrong? Ask Weiss and you’ll get a witty response. She recommends not being yourself if “you work at the local pizza shop and are the slowest person on the cross-country team.” She places some blame on her parents, who simply weren’t able to meet both the time and the financial commitments the Ivy League requires of its applicants. Finally, she acknowledges that she is not one of the world’s natural geniuses, of whom she is “desperately jealous.”

I find myself in a similar position. I applied to four schools—St. Rose, SUNY Albany, NYU, and Columbia. Guess the college from which I was rejected.

Naturally I was disappointed I didn’t make the Ivy League. Surprised? Not so much. With an average of 97.7, I ranked third out of 540 in my class. I took part in a variety of extracurricular activities. On paper, I had a decent shot of making it into Columbia. But at the end of the day, Weiss was right. The odds were stacked against me from the beginning.

I’m different from Weiss in that I’m not so bitter about the rejection. Again, that’s not to say I wasn’t disappointed, because I was. But I’m not dwelling on it. There’s much more to take from this than disappointment.

For starters—and this would be my advice to everyone, from seniors hearing back from colleges to juniors getting ready to apply and everyone in between—it’s not about where you go. It’s about what you make of where you are. The college experience doesn’t determine you. You determine the college experience.

And that’s assuming you decide to go to college. Let’s face it—college is not for everybody. At least, it shouldn’t be. There’s nothing wrong with going directly into the workforce (again, ideally; socioeconomic issues may unfortunately serve as a roadblock, but that’s a separate conversation) or deferring your start a year or two. Perhaps taking some time off can even help you clear your mind and approach your future more wisely than you could have ever imagined.

So maybe this isn’t traditional straight news, nor should it be treated like a traditional straight news piece. But as Weiss very clearly demonstrates, the issue is certainly newsworthy. College hopefuls, fret not: the future is what you make of it. Pat yourselves on the back for all the hard work you’ve done so far. And fellow Falcons, always remember that should you ever need the support, you can always find it here at the nest.