What happens when you miss an opportunity you really wanted?

About a week ago, I had the opportunity to be among the 2020 cohort of the Young Professionals Bootcamp (YPB) organized by the Covenant Christian Centre. As at the time I got the acceptance mail, I wasn’t particularly elated. My 2020 YPB application was my 4^th time applying for the training program and somehow along the way I had lost my excitement. I almost didn’t apply this year until a friend of mine reached out to me about it. I ended up applying a day before the application closed and I am glad I went through with it. I’ll be sharing my experience and lessons from the 4-day Bootcamp but first I will share the journey to this moment.

I heard about YPB for the first time in 2016 when one of my classmates attended it. After she shared her experience, I made a mental note to attend the next edition. When the application opened in 2017, she sent a reminder to me and I applied. I had completely forgotten about my application until some of my classmates started talking about their successful applications. It was then I checked my mailbox and found my acceptance mail in my spam but by then, it was too late for me to acknowledge the acceptance as my spot had been given out (always check your spam box people, especially when you are expecting some news). I was hurt but there was nothing I could do about it.

After my final exams in 2018, I applied for another edition of YPB. Sometime in August, I got an acceptance mail. At the time, I was in Osun state on a medical outreach and I couldn’t fund my trip to Lagos and back. It also didn’t help that I would have had to pay another doctor to handle my responsibilities during my time away. In retrospect, I probably didn’t place as much value on the program as I should have but at the time, my financial state didn’t allow me to think in that direction. Fast forward to 2019, I applied to YPB for the third time. I was on my way to Lagos from Akure where I interned when I got a mail from YPB stating that I hadn’t made the cut. At that point, I had so much going on that I actually wasn’t moved. I just read the mail and moved on from it. I told myself that I didn’t need it anyway.

In January 2020, I saw the advert for a new YPB cohort. At this point, I was already a bit fagged out and I almost didn’t apply. One thing that made me send in an application was the fact that I had nothing to lose. The worst that could have happened is that I would get another ‘No’ and although I would have been upset this time, I believed it was better than me looking back and wishing I applied. It was also the last time that I would have been eligible to apply based on the age requirement. Having someone else who was applying also gave me some extra ginger to do so.

In the application form, there was a question about what my top 3 expectations from YPB were and my response was informative, practical and engaging. I am really thrilled that the Bootcamp was all this and more.

I wrote the draft above in Feb/March 2020 when I got my acceptance into the 2020 YPB cohort, before the Bootcamp was to happen. At the time, COVID-19 was still just something China was dealing with and we had not imagined the possibility of a worldwide lockdown. We are all too familiar with how 2020 went – lockdowns, job cuts, programs being cancelled or moved virtually, among others. In the midst of all of this, the 2020 YPB was also put on hold till further notice. It’s been over a year now and the Bootcamp is yet to hold. I don’t know if it would still hold or not. So why am I telling this ‘story’?

In recent times, I have not gotten certain opportunities that I have hoped to get. Through my application and waiting process, I had imagined how getting into those programmes would give me a much-needed lift and speed up my career process. So getting rejection mails have made me question whether or not I will still progress as I have hoped. In one of such brooding moments, I remembered the YPB that didn’t hold and I got a lesson I didn’t see prior.

One of my reasons for applying to the YPB was to network with other professionals and also the possibility of meeting certain executives. The plan was that those networks would help as I navigate my career as a young graduate. As I look back over the time that has elapsed since YPB was to hold, I realise that I have done some of the things I needed such a professional program without having to go through it. Another ‘lesson’ I got from this is that the fact that you spent a long time waiting for something doesn’t mean that thing will necessarily be the breakthrough you are searching for when it eventually comes. Not all long-suffering yields the fruits we would like.

This new insight gives me some peace in that, while certain programs are quite important and can provide great leverage in one’s journey, career success doesn’t have to be tied to one specific program or event. There are limited positions on practically every opportunity that exists so it is probably not feasible that one would get into every single one. While these platforms can serve as springboards, the individual involved is an equally important part of the equation. I want to believe that for people who are determined as individuals to succeed, some way will almost always open eventually.

At this moment, I remember Clayton Christensen mentioning his desire to join the World Bank after completing his studies on economic development as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford. At the time when he was applying, the WB was not recruiting from the USA so he couldn’t get in. Even though he never became a full-time employee of the WB, he has still delivered impact in the area he was interested in – development economics. His lectures and books have shaped various conversations and continue to do so even after his death.

Losing one or more opportunities is not the end of the journey. There are still many losses ahead, but there are wins as well. And the wins will not come if we stop playing – the more we play, the more our chances of winning increases. It’s not always easy, but it is doable. I will close out with this excerpt from a newsletter I enjoy reading:

‘I will be fine without this job. I will be fine without this Visa. I will be fine without this opportunity. I will be fine if I fail this exam. I will be fine without this person.’
It is extremely difficult to do, and sometimes even I struggle to believe it in the moment. But ultimately as time passes, I have always found it to be true.
– Hameed

I hope I get out of my current writing slump and show up here more often. It always feels good to write and share.

Till next time,

Sisikunmi.