So you did not get into your dream school, and your life is over. It is time to throw in the towel, sign up for welfare and find a park bench that will be known as home for the future.

Does this sound ridiculous yet? While this may sound irrational, many students have mindsets like this when they receive a rejection letter. The winter and spring seasons bring college decisions, and far too many seniors overreact when they receive a rejection letter.

When UF releases decisions on Feb. 9, or when FSU releases decisions on Jan. 25, many students will sit in class and constantly press the refresh button on the application status page until their finger breaks. Although coming to school only to check the status of your application seems absurd, this is the reality for many students.

I see this kind of behavior every year. Students flip out on Twitter during the time leading up to the release of the decision, and when the day finally comes, some students find out they were rejected. So what do they do? Many will retweet inspirational quotes about rejection to try and cheer themselves up, subtweet the school itself or just openly say how angry and upset they are for getting rejected. Others will compare themselves to students who did get in the school with a lower GPA and test score and constantly ask the question, “Why them and not me?” While it is normal to get upset once rejected, there comes a time where it is necessary to move on instead of forever wallowing in sadness.

Now if you do happen to get rejected, throw yourself a pity party for the night, order some pizza and try to move past it. I suggest staying off of social media like Instagram and Twitter, especially if you are the type of person to get jealous. Maybe invite your friends over for a movie night, but do not invite the friends who got accepted. You do not want to be reminded of what you did not achieve in your own home. What you do not want to do is form an irrational mindset with the idea that your life is over. There comes a time in life where work experience trumps a degree when applying for a job. According to Undercover Recruiter, 66 percent of employees are hired on experience over academics. Eventually, employers will not care where you got your degree from, because they were only making sure that you have a degree. And just because your degree is not from UF does not mean that you failed at life.

In the most non cliché way possible, any college is better than no college. So, instead of turning into one of those people who cry for three years because they didn’t get into UF, or their respected dream school, embrace that rejection letter and buy some ice cream to celebrate. After all, the school had to personally look at your application to reject you, so at least you were recognized.