I didn’t get into Stanford, but I’ll never stop rooting for the Cardinal

4:59. My heart raced. Butterflies shot up my stomach. My parents peered over my shoulder telling me to open my Stanford application. The clock turned. 5:00. It was time.

“Dear Charlie,” it read, “we regret to inform you that we can not offer you admission...”

I couldn’t finish the entire letter before I started crying. In just a matter of seconds, my dream to attend my father’s alma mater had been crushed. I quickly rushed up to my room and sat in silence, feeling like a failure and thinking all hope was lost.

I’ll be honest, Stanford was a reach. In fact, with my GPA, it would’ve taken a miracle. Still, I applied and got my hopes up, figuring that maybe my admission reader would be a big Rule…