In “Sorry, Charlie,” Elena recounts the first time a boy asked her to a dance. She doesn’t want to go with him, but when she asks her mom what to do, she tells Elena to accept to save the boy from rejection. Elena and Charlie only have very awkward encounters after that, and she never understands why she said yes. Years later, Elena is trying out for the chamber choir. After much hard work, she gets rejected and is understandably heartbroken. However, she recovers and feels stronger and better for it.

After overcoming her own rejection, Elena realizes that when she said yes to Charlie out of pity she deprived him. She says she “never let him feel the beauty of realization” and find his own strength. Her takeaway was that Charlie might have been better off, like she was, learning resilience instead of being babied.

I really connected with this story. I have seen people being pampered, spared from a harsher, more difficult alternative. When I faced my own rejection, I realized the benefits of learning to cope, like Elena. Elena, your story is a great demonstration that what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger