Her mother Anna stood next to her with a hand on her shoulder as she said “Oh honey don’t worry…I’m sure you will…And if for some reason you don’t we’ll keep trying.Okay? So just check without any fears darling.” Anna was as nervous as Penny but she was a mother hence had to hide her anxiety.
Penny sighed and navigated to the results page. She had applied for a prestigious course on Anthropology there and today the results for it’s entrance test were out.
“Oh God Please! Please” Penny whispered as she finally keyed in her roll number and clicked on enter. “I’m closing my eyes” she continued as the page began loading “You tell me whatever it is mom!”
While Penny kept praying with her eyes closed, Anna hope for a good result too. She knew that her daughter was a good student but then the course was extremely difficult to get in to even with brilliant recommendations. She waited for a favorable result for Penny’s sake. After a few seconds the page finally loaded completely and there it was, the sentence that determined her daughter’s next course of action.
As she read each word in the sentence Anna smiled and murmured “Alright then!” which led Penny to call out to her saying “Mom what is it? Is it loaded yet? I didn’t make it, did I?”
Anna took a deep breath and now placing both her hands on Penny’s shoulders said “Alright…Penny honey we just have to try again next year. It’s okay you know.”
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At this Penny opened her eyes which were by now filled with tears and looked at the screen which read ‘We regret to inform that your marks are below the cut-off.’ Penny sobbed seeing that for she had really worked hard for it and had truly wanted to go for the course.
Anna knew this was just a temporary setback and that there would certainly be something better in Penny’s future. So hugging Penny she said “Oh honey don’t cry. It’s okay to be disappointed a little but it’s just another step. I’m sure you’ll get through next year.”
“Un huh…” nodded Penny “But it really hurts Mom!”
“Oh dear..it will but that’s alright” said Anna as she continued “It only shows how much you want it. It’s good that means you’ll work for it more. Come now let’s go get you some ice-cream” and she took Penny by the arm to the kitchen. There they sat through the entire evening, the mother-daughter duo, eating ice-cream and getting over this temporary dejection to bounce back fresh the next day.
Linking this to UBC too.
What a wonderful mom…really I read the dialogues carefully and she said all the right things. May be some day I have the courage to survive watching my kids heartbroken and may be try and be their support. 🙂
In great attempts dejections become grand stories. Nice one 🙂
If the parents support you, you can fight the odd! It is disheartening to get rejection letters for your hard work, but indeed there is much more to future than a temporary phase. Good one!!! 🙂
Wonderful mom, and yes, it is only a temporary setback. 🙂 Good advice, and support Penny has. And ice-cream helps. And if it doesn't, there's always chocolate.
Remembered my PG entrance exam 🙁 and her mom could relate to that too :):) I just like your stories so much 🙂
I so knoww this Feeling , I could not get my Course preferred for 0.75 % in DU Cut off and more over could nit clear lectureship exam of NET for 2 marks..It sucks…It's worst of all
Great Mom. So encouraging.
That's a wonderful everyday scene brought to life!
You painted a great word picture
Again another great story Naba! All the right advice and a message forward too
Fantastic story…hopefully when my kiddo grows up I 'd have such pieces of sane advice for him
The moment of failure is always terrible..Dejection…well written!
You know my heart breaks whenever I see my kids hurt or broken. I try my best not to break…sometimes, my son says, "Amma, are you okay?"
We should be strong enough to accept dejection as a part of our life. And who else than moms to instill that confidence to take dejection in our stride.
So like my mom!! Dejection is something that is tough for me to handle 🙁
~S(t)ri
Participant|AtoZ Challenge 2014
Smile, it makes (y)our day!
Dejection is an opportunity in disguise, to do better. …isn't it?
What a positive story! She is so supportive and encouraging.
hehe aww man! I cud relate to this so much!!
This was like my story. I remember after writing my IIT JEE exams. Immedeately after writing the exam, I somehow knew I would not clear. For 2 days I did not talk to anyone, did not do anything – just sitting in front of Cartoon Network like a corpse – watching but not really taking in anything to my head . Then finally I broke out of it when news came that the exam got cancelled. But now looking back, I think it was not worth it. It would have made no difference in the bigger scheme of things whether I made it to IIT or not. But maybe it was worth it for the intense emotions it generated – the depth of failure, the relief when the exam got cancelled, the buring fire to achieve the next time around and finally the elation when I achieved my goal the second time around. Nowadays my life lacks those emotions.
You know, I realise the title said 'Dejected' but there was a tiny part of me hoping that she would make it through. But, how touching and true. A mom can wipe away her child's tears, literally and figuratively. Nicely narrated, Naba 🙂
Brings back some memories, of different kinds of rejection and dejection. But hurray for the Mom's attitude in all this!
Aww remember my entrance from college 🙂
A good story……….
Nice tale. Loved the way you kept the story in line with the theme instead of giving us a happy ending!
I guess all of us go through this emotion sometime or the other. It is only later that we realize that it all worked out for our own good. That's why the saying!
Ah, my mom would have done the same for me too. And ice-cream really helps, you know 🙂
Another common incident deftly portrayed in words.
The anxiety of waiting for results!!! can connect with this post..
You have a certain way with words.. ur words manage to perfectly paint the picture in my mind 🙂
Such a sweet story … a mother's support is always necessary for a child 🙂
Oh well, life is all about ups and downs…. it does feel like the end when you don't make it sometime, but I guess there is always another chance, and always another option. Waiting for results is such terror, though!
Do stop by my blog too 🙂 been a while!
only a mom can do this, what a lovely mom 🙂
Moments like these can be soul destroying. But awesome mom.
Not only did the mom in your story say the right things, she said them assertively, and her actions reinforced them. Probably, she was dejected herself, but did not show it to her kid.
Dejections are a part of life… Difficult to handle but with a caring family it can be overcome. Beautiful story
Your theme may be "Dejected", but its very inspiring!
http://www.volatilespirits.com
sometimes failures lead us to our purpose of life…
Lovely lovely story!!
God bless this mother. Nowadays parents torture their kids if they fail!
I loved the optimism at the end. .. and I worry to think that I might have to do this someday. To see your child hurting or disappointed is the hardest thing ever. How did you get this so right Nabanita?
ah reminded me my intermediate days ! It was TOUGHEST phase of my life but am glad am out of it successfully
Every time I remember the transformations that time (Physical and mental) and the stress I shudder
I admire the mother's parenting skills regarding the situation. She lovingly offered encourgement while preparing her daughter to expect positive/negarive results with the advice that she must never give up. The ice-cream therapy works too. Excellent story with good values which I enjoyed reading.
Almost all of us have faced this The feeling of not making it through….
Richa
It's wonderful that Penny has such a supportive Mom. Supportive mothers are a blessing to have in difficult situations.
Very poignant entry and I'm glad Penny's mother was so supportive.
Tasha
Tasha's Thinkings – AtoZ (Vampires)
Another great story, and like a comment above, although I knew the theme was "Dejected", I still had a hope that everything would work out. Bah, I'm a sloppy devil. 😉
Lovely story. She was lucky to have such a supportive mom to point out that it wasn't end of the world and to encourage her to keep trying. ♥
To bounce back and try again, what else is courage? You made the point very well Naba…:)
Dagny
Sensitive story woven. We need more parents like that who instill confidence in their children and re-affirm their faith.
Children can sail thru anything and everything when they have the support of their parents
Oh, we know this feeling too well. But it some it pushes them to do better and for some to abandon their hopes and dream. Nicely woven story, Nabanita 🙂
Loved mom's reaction 🙂 Failures are part of life, just like successes…great story.
Anna's a good mother. We all have to deal with rejection in life and she knew how to soften the blow.
Story of our lives at one point of time or another. Good one. 🙂
very poignant story .. Penny is lucky that she has a supportive mother..
Very happy for the mom who is with Penny, no matter what !!
( Shouting out here 😀 I'm not there in your list 😀 😀 😀 )
Be positive, think positive, leave the rest to the almighty!!
Lovely read. Believe in the proverb-Hope springs eternal in the human breast!
Brings back a memory from the past, Been there in the shoes of Penny!! 🙁 It hurts!
Slice of life! wonderfully captured
It's such a nice post..a perfect mom… 🙂
That's a Mom! 🙂
Failure indeed is painful and it is very important that you have someone who can pull out of this dejection. And who can be better than a Mom! Beautiful story, Naba!
Moms !! I am sure we can never grow old enough to be okay without their support..I need to go and hug my mom now :')
Lovely story. So often parents forget to stand by their children when results are out in an undesirable mode. Brilliant reminder.
In today's world of parental pressure, wish parents would be like that ! Nicely written !