A manilla envelope or my fate.

Here I was standing (not sitting because I was too nervous) about to open up that plain looking envelope with David Hoffman typed in the center. Was I about to receive an offer that most likely I would accept or was I about to receive a letter that would end up being the complete opposite? Turns out it was the latter.

The letter basically said while they were pleased to meet me and have the opportunity to learn more about me, at the time they did not see a match with my experience and their opporutnities. Funny thing about it, I was OK with it. I wanted this job and if they called me saying that I received the wrong letter I would still be interested in the position. Still overlooking Michigan from the Hyatt I was OK with it.

Is there fate? I don't know. I'm someone who really likes to think that we are here on Earth and control our own destiny. Still there I was really wondering if there is another plan for me, a better more suited plan. I've had nothing but amazing experiences these last four plus years at college. Maybe there was more than my own doing in respect to these experiences.

What I'm going to remember most from Michigan is not the facilities I saw, the case I did(which I really did love my answer), or the crash dummy tests I witnessed. What I enjoyed were meeting a lot of different candidates throughout the US. Utah, Arizona, Penn, New Jersey, Boston, NY, LA, and the list goes on. Almost everyone I met also was a genuine person. I was talking to students in their late 20's wrapping up their MBA to a student a Northwestern at the top of his game. No one was really full of themself. A simple descriptive word in everyone's college dictionary, they were cool. Last night I sat at the loser's table, but as corny as it sounds felt like a winner. Here was a group of 5 of us sipping on our expensive hotel drinks just getting to know one another. As the night continued students retired to their hotel room or had to hit the road for the drive home and probably a longer one now. We said our goodbyes, wished each other luck, and smiled. As I shared an elevator with a Boston girl, we held the elevator door open long enough to say goodbye. She said isn't this weird how we get to know one another and leave. I said it's interesting, but makes life fun. Really it does. Here were these people that I only got to know for a couple hours, but have left a footprint in my memories. Maybe like the tides of the ocean on the beach they will fade away, but it happened and I enjoyed it. I hope I'll remember them, and if that Indiana girl drops her engagement and our paths cross again well that could be a completely different story.

As our hotel shuttle van drove to the Detroit aiport, REM's "Everybody Hurts" was playing softly through the speakers. Everybody does hurt sometimes. We would never know and appreciate happiness without the bad and dissappointing times. Other opporunities are awaiting and I can already see the light underneath the next door waiting to be opened.