**At some point in our lives, all of us have faced some sort of rejection or defeat. Write an essay about a time in your life when you experienced such a rejection. How did the rejection affect you?**  
  
## great dissapointment

  
  
If someone asked me,"what is your favorite pastime" my reply without any second thought would be eating and cooking food. Since I was 5 years old, I often helped my mother and grandmother in preparing meals for everyone. From an early age, I developed an interest in cooking food. Gradually I started experimenting with different cuisines under the guidance of my mother and from various recipes available online. Once I was an adult, I registered for the cooking competition which was conducted every year in my city. I started preparing for the competition two weeks in advance with skyrocketing confidence and excitement. After nine grueling hours, it was my time to present my dish. I had 20 minutes to plate my dish and I did exactly what I had been practicing for a long a time. As I entered the room with 4-panel judges sitting on the stage, I was immediately rejected because they did not find my food very appealing to their eyes. They did not even taste my food and announced for the next participant to be sent in.  
  
I was shattered and shocked. I was unable to hold back my tears and as soon as I saw my mother on the other side of the gate waiting for me in anticipation I broke down and started weeping profusely. The next couple months I completely lost interest in cooking. I used to keep thinking if there was any way I could have impressed the judges by my words to taste the food so I could have been selected. My mother kept motivating me with inspirational talks but somehow I was never convinced and thus I stopped cooking for a year. The fear of rejection was soon taking control of me. I was unable to overcome my inhibitions and I started developing interests in other career fields. I applied for a diploma in Early Childhood Education and soon started teaching children.  
  
As part of the annual school competition, there was a nutritional diet cooking competition for all teachers in the school. As I read the pamphlet, the flashback of how I was rejected flashed in front of my eyes. Somewhere deep down I was still trying to overcome that rejection, so I withdrew my name from the competition. I shared my inhibitions with my coordinator and guide and she explained to me that we rise only when we fall. Only when you face a rejection are you motivated to achieve the goal for which you were rejected. After talking to her for several days, I participated in the competition and secured the third place. After a long time, I was feeling confident and proud of myself.  
  
I immediately called up my mother and shared my joy and success. Past couple of months, she had been wanting to start a food video blog (Vlog) of her own. I asked her if I could join her and collaboratively start the new venture. My mother always had complete faith in me and we soon started our vlog where we try innovative food recipes by mix and matching different cuisines. Now when I look back at the time when I was rejected, I feel I was too naive to let the fear of rejection take control over me.