Protests, Safe Rooms, Scooters, and the Job Search

The protests last night about President–Elect Trump and the high schools and universities exempting their students from class or mid-terms or allowing them some respite in a safe place have been on my mind all day. It’s interrupting my work so I have to put this out there and then move on.

A few years ago I wrote an article for LinkedIn named, “If Everyone is a Winner, Why Can’t I Find a Job?” It dealt with a generation of Millennials who in part want something for nothing. Now before you jump down my throat, let me state the obvious. Not every Millennial is like this and there are examples of this behavior in every generation.

True Story

When I was a high school sophomore I wanted nothing more than to be a cheerleader. I practiced jumping, yelling, clapping, cartwheels and donkey flips until I collapsed. I was pretty confident that I would make one of the squads; at least the JV team. The day before tryouts we were playing a game in gym class called crab ball. In the game you used scooters to roll around the gym floor kicking a huge ball. It was like soccer and normally I loved the game. One this particular day I gave the ball a kick and when I did, the scooter went out from under me and I landed on my tail bone; my coccyx. I bruised it so badly that I could barely sit or stand and was in severe pain.. It would take time to heal on its own, probably a few weeks.

Obviously this screw up totally blew my chances to make a cheerleading squad.  The night of tryouts I showed up and when I did the routine I looked like a total idiot. The faces of the “judges” could barely contain their smiles. I could read their faces, “Why is she even here?” “She is an embarrassment.”

I never told them I was injured. 

The next day the list of the new teams was posted on the gym door. At a distance I could see the smiles and delight from the girls who made it and the disappointment in the eyes of those who didn’t. I knew that I didn’t even need to look at the list because of my disastrous tryout but I did when no one was looking. Obviously I didn’t make any squad.

I went home in tears that afternoon. I asked my mother if I should have said something about my injury when I tried out. She said that I could have but that might not have made a difference. She also said that I shouldn’t assume that my injury would halt the entire selection process. There were other girls who worked just as hard as me and my problem was not their problem. She told me that there was always next year and another tryout. While that’s not exactly what I wanted to hear, she was right. 

That year my desire to work harder at cheerleading stuck its face at me every time I attended any football or basketball games. At home I practiced jumping, yelling, clapping doing cartwheels and donkey flips and when the tryouts were announced in the Spring I was there and better than before.

So what does this have to do with the job search, the President Elect Trump protests or even life in general? 

When bad things (what you consider to be disasters) happen, work harder on making yourself better. Stand taller, learn something new, learn from your mistakes, practice something, help someone, or volunteer somewhere.  Don’t throw things around, light things on fire or use crude language to get your point across. It only lessens you.

Take time to be sad or even angry but study, learn and practice for the next time. Don’t put your head under a safe pillow; do something that you are proud of and make a difference.