I only have one more week of waiting until I’m notified whether I’ve been accepted as a resident assistant (RA) for Samford University next year. I applied and went through two interviews almost a month ago. Now I only have a week left to wait.

I also applied for membership on the Samford Recruitment Team (SRT) and I recently had my application accepted and was moved to stage two, the interview. So I still have a while to wait until they send out acceptance and rejection notifications.

Already I’ve been accepted as a member of both the literary and art advisory boards for Samford’s literary journal, Sojourn. So I’ve had good news with these applications and I’m hoping the good news just keeps coming! But I’m trying my best to prepare for the worst.

I’ve always seen a maybe as a definite, a possibility as a promise. And I usually get myself excited very easily about possible opportunities coming up, whether that be trips, job openings, gifts, special events … before any plans are finalized I can see myself engaging and making the most out of whatever is going on. And when it doesn’t happen the way I plan or doesn’t happen at all, I get upset and mope around.

I’m the one to blame, I knew in my head that the trip or the job wasn’t a sure thing. But I just couldn’t help but think of everything I needed to pack or what I was going to wear on my first day of work, even how I was going to spend my first paycheck!

I’ve been trying to wait until a decision comes about RA to decide how to decorate my hall and whether or not I should put a futon in my dorm for the girls to relax on. And I’m struggling to not search for cute khaki skirts (dress code of an SRT member) to buy for Preview Days.

These two positions are so important to me right now that they’re consuming all of my thoughts. And I’m worried what’ll happen if I don’t get one, or even both!

I don’t really have any suggestions for anyone who goes through this great buildup phase for every possible opportunity. In fact, I’m searching for advice here.

I have a week ahead of me that will likely be filled with thoughts of my life as an RA for next year. And I’m not even sure if I’ll get the job. I’ve heard people call me optimistic because of the way I look forward to things. But I don’t think that’s what it is.

One more week. I’ll let you know how it goes!

In the meantime I’d love to get some advice on how you look forward to things without the major planning before things are set. I think it would help at least a little with the degree of disappointment that I feel with rejections.

By Hannah