Thank you for saying no to me

It's Thanksgiving, and it's a time to count our blessings. I am very thankful for the people who have given me opportunities, those who have said 'yes' to me; but at the same time I am very grateful to those who have said 'no' to me, too, because they have changed my life in ways that I never expected.

Thank you to my parents, who said no to me when I wanted to enter a Chinese high school when I was 12. Because they refused, I went to a school where English was more heavily used and which allowed me to improve my command of the language. At the same time, I was able to navigate the then nascent World-Wide-Web much better with better English, becoming a digital native before that term was even coined.

Thank you to the scholarship organizations who rejected my applications and squashed my dreams of studying in the UK when I was 18. I wanted the prestige and glamour of a UK education, but instead I received 4 wonderful years of education at Nanyang Technological University, where I learned about the drive, ambition and resourcefulness of young people from Asia. I also became an exchange student in Europe, traveling through old German towns and dog-sledding across a frozen lake in Norway - an adventure that I did not even dream of when I started university.

(Dog-sledding in Tromso, Norway in 2011 towards the end of my exchange semester)

Thank you to the over 20 banks and over 10 non-bank companies who rejected my job applications when I was graduating from university. Joining a bank was the conventional route for an Economics graduate, and most of my class and thousands more applied for Management Associate or Graduate Trainee roles in banks and the big-name companies. I went through dozens of interviews but none went through. But it was because of this that I stumbled into market research and analytics, giving me the basic training that I need for my role as a data analyst in LinkedIn.

Thank you to the pharmaceutical companies who said no to me when I tried to go the 'client side' route after a stint on the 'agency' side. While I have always been interested in the tech industry, I wasn't confident enough or bold enough to actually make the leap, so applying to 'client side' was a safer road. But I was rejected multiple times, and eventually LinkedIn said 'yes' to me.

Looking back, I have received countless rejections over my life so far, and certainly many of them were at major turning points that have a big impact on the path my life would take. But every single major rejection I faced had forced me to think beyond the safe, conventional options, and they have broadened my horizons in ways I never expected. My imagination and aspirations are never as good as what life can throw at me, it seems.

So thank you to all those who have said 'no' to me in the past; it was because of them that I can eventually say 'yes' to the things that turn out to be much better than I could imagine. If you have recently faced a big rejection, take heart and have faith that there is something better down the line.

Happy Thanksgiving!