Everyone has undergone an experience of a rejection sometime ore the other. Maybe more often than once. Usually one tends to get upset and give up. Today I want to tell a story of how a great university was born out of an unreasonable rejection.
Mrs and Mr Stanford - the lady in her faded gingham dress and the man in a homespun threadbare suit went timidly to Boston without an appointment to meet the President of the Harvard university. After all, their son who was studying at the Harvard University had suddenly died and being grateful (as he was very happy as a student) they wanted to contribute something to the university as a memorial. The secretary gave them a surprised look and felt that the president had no time for such "country hicks". He never bothered to convey to the president their desire to meet him. He would not be interested anyway. Then he faced a strange problem. They would not go away! He had to find a way of getting rid of them.
The secretary reluctantly approached the president and appraised him of the situation. "They will leave only after seeing you" he said. The president very reluctantly agreed to meet them only for a few minutes. "My son attended Harvard for a year and he was very happy. He got killed accidentally. We have come to see you and offer to build a memorial for him Harvard.". The president was surprised. What kind of a memorial these "country hicks" could afford anyway? He simply told them that was impossible. "We could not erect a statue for each person who died while studying at Harvard. Then this place would look like a cemetery." "Oh no, not a statue. We were thinking of giving a building". The president got visibly annoyed. "Do you know how much a building costs? All our buildings cost more than seven and a half million dollars!". The lady was silenced. She thanked the president and the couple left.
As they walked out, the lady asked her husband "Is that all it costs to start a university? Why not start one on our own?" Now it was the president's turn to be bewildered. The couple travelled to Palo Alto, California, and established an university bearing their name - the Stanford University - a fitting memorial to their son the Harvard university no longer cared about.
The lesson to be learnt from this story is never to judge some one by the appearence. To be able to judge some one's character and abilities one has to spend quality time and listen to them. Only after a tactful communication, one try to can judge the other person
Next time someone rejects you do not feel offended. Maybe that will be a foundation for a greater achievement!
Mrs and Mr Stanford - the lady in her faded gingham dress and the man in a homespun threadbare suit went timidly to Boston without an appointment to meet the President of the Harvard university. After all, their son who was studying at the Harvard University had suddenly died and being grateful (as he was very happy as a student) they wanted to contribute something to the university as a memorial. The secretary gave them a surprised look and felt that the president had no time for such "country hicks". He never bothered to convey to the president their desire to meet him. He would not be interested anyway. Then he faced a strange problem. They would not go away! He had to find a way of getting rid of them.
The secretary reluctantly approached the president and appraised him of the situation. "They will leave only after seeing you" he said. The president very reluctantly agreed to meet them only for a few minutes. "My son attended Harvard for a year and he was very happy. He got killed accidentally. We have come to see you and offer to build a memorial for him Harvard.". The president was surprised. What kind of a memorial these "country hicks" could afford anyway? He simply told them that was impossible. "We could not erect a statue for each person who died while studying at Harvard. Then this place would look like a cemetery." "Oh no, not a statue. We were thinking of giving a building". The president got visibly annoyed. "Do you know how much a building costs? All our buildings cost more than seven and a half million dollars!". The lady was silenced. She thanked the president and the couple left.
As they walked out, the lady asked her husband "Is that all it costs to start a university? Why not start one on our own?" Now it was the president's turn to be bewildered. The couple travelled to Palo Alto, California, and established an university bearing their name - the Stanford University - a fitting memorial to their son the Harvard university no longer cared about.
The lesson to be learnt from this story is never to judge some one by the appearence. To be able to judge some one's character and abilities one has to spend quality time and listen to them. Only after a tactful communication, one try to can judge the other person
Next time someone rejects you do not feel offended. Maybe that will be a foundation for a greater achievement!
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