Losing Hope Please Help?

<p>Recently, all of these recruited athletes got into their top choices. I'm talking multiple spots at colleges like HYP-MS various and various other Ivy Leagues... Many of them have shown clear talent (national teams, including one who made the 2016 olympic team...).</p>

<p>Yet I still can't shake the feeling that everybody else who has devoted their time to academic/non-athletic interests are cheated a bit. I know this is a HORRIBLE sentiment and I feel HORRIBLE about thinking this way... </p>

<p>But with all the Facebook posts/ buzz around school, I can't help but feel discouraged... Take my word for it, a few of my peers who have devoted their interests to non-academic areas are truly 1-in-a-million people (internet programming/animation sensations who are already making a salary they can live comfortably off of) . A lot of them would do fine without a college education in my opinion. And they aren't introverted creepy people either. They are funny, outgoing, humble, inspiring, etc. Yet almost ALL of them got deferred (and a few rejected) early.</p>

<p>I do athletics, and I'm pretty accomplished ... in Taekwondo (train 15 hrs/week, multiple state / 1 national titles), but I obviously won't be recruited anywhere for this... I got deferred from Harvard EA, and I can't help but wonder if all my 4 years of effort in high school have been wasted :(</p>

<p>This might be the usual case--athletes getting accepted in swarms early on--but I wouldn't know, and I only feel down about what lies ahead... Is there hope?</p>

<p>(I'm sorry if I offended any athlete recruits, I KNOW you all work hard and are talented, but please understand this is coming from a person who still has no clear/safe/welcoming/whatever image of the future...)</p>

<p>I can’t help but feel that I am offending some people with this post, so I’ll say it again: I have complete respect for student-athletes. </p>

<p>I just have a disturbingly powerful feeling that, for some reason, I won’t be able to get in any where I want because I didn’t pursue a recruited sport ("d’OH should I have listened when my recruited runner friends who told me to join XC and track freshman year?). </p>

<p>Haha! My son is a high achiever and XC but got deferred by MIT. It’s a crap shoot. If an athlete is also smart, of couse he’ll be recruited first because the colleges get a lot of $ from the team sports. </p>