Introduction

To be rejected and written off as not been good enough can be very devastating. Rejection comes in different shapes and sizes. Some rejections are minor, and may not pose any major hindrance to the individual progress in life. Unfortunately, some life-changing challenges come in the form of rejection. It takes a full dose of courage to recover from such rejection.

Susan Boyle

A talented songwriter and musical sensation Susan Boyle faced so many hurdles in the early stages of her beautiful career. She was once described as having a low Intelligent Quotient (IQ). She tried unsuccessfully to scale through several auditions, but she was never selected.

Her late mum however encouraged her to stay true to her dreams and give her dream one more push. She got inspired and entered for the 2008 edition of Britain’s Got Talent. That was the beginning of her amazing turnaround. Her rendition of “I dreamed a dream”, captivated the audience and over 10 million viewers that watched her perform. Her moment of success wiped away years of rejection.

Nwankwo Kanu was once rejected

Football Legend, Nwankwo Kanu was once rejected by national team selectors in  1991. At 1991 All African Games, he has decamped by then-coach James Peters because he was too skinny. Nigeria later won bronze. A year later he captained the Football team to Atlanta 93. He never took his initial setback to heart but kept on improving his game. He later went on to win laurels for both club and country.

Victor Chiedozie Ojogho was rejected thrice

For  18 years old Victor Chiedozie, he faced rejection thrice. The first time was at a football camp. He shared his touching story: “It was in 2017, at the Abuja football college. I couldn’t make the team due to tribal sentiments. The coach said I wasn’t good enough. Two weeks after I left the academy, the players selected by the coach traveled to Italy for an FA Competition. I was a painful experience, but I had to move on“

The Abia State-born footballer kept pushing on and never gave up. He was training so hard and just a few months later, another opportunity came. This time it was tagged “Tough  Season”. It was a football clinic held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.

“I traveled to the football clinic with my friend. We registered and started taking part in the drills and training sessions. When the list of selected players came out days later, my name was not there. Fortunately, my friend made the list and they traveled to Lagos,  for another 3 months camping. I did my best, but I never knew why I wasn’t selected”.

Another major setback Victor Chiedozie Ojogho experienced, came in 2018 when he was all set to travel to Europe for trials. Unfortunately, the entire plan was aborted when he couldn’t raise the funds for the trip (€3,000).

So often in life, some difficult roads do lead to beautiful destinations. Today, Victor has pitched his tent with Beautiful Strikers FC in Rivers State, Nigeria.  He’s still aiming higher even as he keeps training hard to achieve his dreams in life.

His dream is to play in Europe and make a success out of his career. Watching his high-intensity training sessions, and seeing the belief and determination on his face is a joy to behold.

Secret that kept him going

I couldn’t help but asked this passionate Chelsea supporter, the secret that has kept him going, despite these challenges.

“Passion for the game. There’s something about passion that keeps you going. Sometimes you ask yourself if you can even play this game. So many players are better than you, but you keep pushing. 

You know this is who you are. You know this is what you want. You don’t allow anything to discourage you.  I have told myself, if I am ever going to get to the top, it’s by his grace and favor” 

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