Rejection Therapy: Myth or Magic?

I was about halfway through spring semester of my freshmen year when I was introduced to

something that would change my life for the better. Rejection Therapy, a practice started by Jia

Jiang, is the practice of getting told “no” by asking the most outrageous requests. For example,

Jiang’s 15th task was to ask to be a live mannequin in an Abercrombie store. Though it feels

ridiculous asking something like this, getting over that initial fear is paramount as it holds back

many from asking something that could change their lives for the better.

A miniscule real-life example of this is something I did during my internship with Arrive Logistics.

In sales, 60% of clients say “no” before saying yes. Hearing it over and over can become rather

arduous to overcome. That being said, I knew this summer would be the time I learned how to

really put myself out there. While I wasn’t make cold calls everyday, I asked something of my

recruiter and intern cohort leader, which was to organize an intern superlatives ceremony to

commemorate our time together. At first, I was sure she would say no because it would take

away from my main duties at the company. To my surprise, she said yes! We rented out the

largest conference room, invited all mentors and managers, and celebrated our time together.

I thought the end of it would just be us interns going out seperate ways with our silly certificates.

To my delight, an Arrive recruiter reached out to me earlier this semester and let me know that

the intern superlatives ceremony is now something they will do with all intern cohorts in every

office from now on. It isn’t anything big, but I now know that I left my mark on that company.

Don’t let the fear of rejection hold you back from making your mark.

Name: MariClaire Warnock

Year: Senior :(

Major: Human Capital Management and Entrepreneurship

Hometown: Indianapolis, IN

Fun Fact: My family's Christmas name, Disseldoo, is trademarked!