I applied to Honi Soit, USyd’s student newspaper as a general reporter more than two weeks ago.

I did not get any replies during the two weeks plus period because of the exams and study vacation. So I waited, studied, sat for my exams and waited.

Since I haven’t checked my Gmail account for more than a week, I logged on today to clear my inbox. In the process, I saw a reply from Honi Soit. I didn’t feel excited or nervous, just a sense of relief that I got a reply from them.

It started off with the usual thing: “Thank you for your application to be a reporter for Honi Soit” and it went on to describe the overwhelming number of talented applications it received. Then I saw the word “unfortunately…”

By now, I was a veteran of rejection letters and emails. So I knew what would come after that unfortunate word.

I got rejected.

I skimmed the rest of the email and in the last paragraph, the editors invited me to flood Honi Soit with contributions of all kinds as they are really big fans of my work.

I think they said that to all the other rejected applicants too.

If it is any consolation, the editors like my post on accepting Facebook friend requests.

There’s a good and bad thing of getting my application rejected.

The bad thing: I was looking forward to explore more of USyd academia and student body through Honi Soit and getting experience of being a reporter, writing under deadlines, working with editors and reporters and probably interview some really interesting people. All in all, it would be a fun and interesting job.

The good thing: I have a friend who studied journalism and he told me that to write under deadlines is no bloody joke. I can write and work well under deadlines, but I know what he means. To have a writer’s block at the wrong time can lead to disastrous writing. As for my writing style, I prefer to write at a leisurely pace, letting my imagination flow and rewriting drafts after drafts. If I did that for Honi Soit, it being a weekly paper, the editors will probably be screaming and pulling their hair out in frustration.

So I think next semester I’ll flood the paper with the most random contributions I can come up with.

If I can even come up with anything in the first place.

As for the song of the day, to keep up my fighting spirit, nothing is better than the soundtrack from Jet Li’s Once Upon a Time In China aka Wong Fei Hung trilogy:

I’ve always wondered how over a hundred guys can carry out the same moves with military precision. And why is Wong Fei Hung the only fully dressed guy while the others are all half naked?