Diary of a Gen Z Student: Life is a list of rejections, and that's okay

"The Catcher in the Rye was rejected by publishers, before becoming a monument of 20th century literature. Not that I’m comparing myself to JD Salinger, but that he had his rejections, is a comforting thought."

Trinity College student and Irish Examiner columnist Jane Cowan photographed at her home. Pic: Barry Cronin

Today, I found out that I wasn’t chosen for a scholarship I wanted. I had applied for it a few months ago, knowing it was a long shot at the time, but I was hopeful. I had to sit an extra set of university exams, over the Christmas holidays.

I spent my 20th birthday writing essays about ‘The Iliad’, King Lear, Dubliners, A Streetcar Named Desire, theorists, philosophers, critics, you name it.