Bitter Truths

Yesterday was a day for licking my wounds. Today, I am better so I am going to try to suss out the lessons from this rejection. I knew the job situation is bad in academia and I paid lip-service to how competitive this job application would be. But, for some reason, I didn't believe that I would become part of the precariat. People prone to overconfidence often feel exceptional, so they need knocks to their confidence, from time to time. There is no doubt in my mind that I am intelligent and talented. But, I am by no means exceptional. Even if I have potential to be exceptional, my achievements as they stand are far from exceptional. Good, but not exceptional, like many if not most people in academia. 

This does not mean I should start feeling stressed about my job situation. It simply means that I will have to hustle to find a job, and hustle to finish my PhD soon. Hopefully, this rejection will be the kick up my arse that I need to speed up writing my PhD thesis.