Rejection is always out there, but it doesn't have to beat you February 17 2021 I have another the bad-news letters in my newspaper file, but they don't bother me nearly so much as they used to. If you were raised the way I was, it's quite possible you weren't expected to amount to much. It was made clear as I approached high school graduation that I was not likely to go to college, because (A) I had terrible grades (a 1.75 GPA, which is a high D), and (B) nobody in our family had the money to pay for college. I should also add here that if my parents were to hear that I was in trouble with a teacher, principal, coach, bus driver or anyone else in any position of authority, their reaction was always, "OK, what did you do this time?"