I'd like to weigh in on this—as there are a number of things I wish someone had said to me when I first started putting myself through the process of agony and ecstasy that is graduate applications:
Where it comes to assessing your sense of self-worth—especially when taken within a creative context—be kind to yourself. I’ve been lurking and reading through this board's discussions over the past few weeks, and I can say with absolute confidence you're all talented, dedicated, and generous people—and should be proud of the risk you’re taking, just by putting yourselves out-there.
It’s hard to communicate how valuable it is to tackle the prospect of major change—even more-so when the stakes can feel so high—and especially when you’re aiming to achieve something you truly care about. Making that move is an immense accomplishment, on its own, and many people don’t have the guts to attempt it. I know it’s essentially impossible it is to avoid measuring yourself against the yardstick of the other people's success—but you’ll drive yourself crazy. Holding your personal trajectory through life to that of anyone who exists in the public eye—or idols in cultural memory, or strangers who encapsulate the apex of a dream—is an exercise in anxiety, and it privileges unreasonable expectations that boils down to giving credence to false-equivalencies. Your own life experience cannot find objective measure against standards set by the lives of others; nor should it. You’ll find yourself hollowed out by an existential anguish, and do yourself a great disservice in the process.
There is no right way to find success and accomplish amazing things, and that won’t mean the same thing to everyone. It took me far too long to realize that change doesn’t come without risk; but even longer to realize that what makes my life exceptional has nothing to do with my colleague, who’s high-profile accomplishments came early—though I truly loathed how much I envied him for the longest time. The realization finally set in a couple of years ago when I accepted that I simply couldn’t have reproduced what or how he got where he is. My life has been characterized by a monumental series of improbable complications and unexpected barriers, but I wouldn’t be half-way proud of where I’ve come to in life if I hadn’t swallowed a great deal of self-doubt, and just took on what seemed to be the hardest path in the world. (I have also realized that I’m not that fond of my colleague's writing; or his work; and that most people we both associate with aren't fond of him at all.) So, success comes in different forms. Ultimately, I suppose my point is that in making the effort, risking rejection, etc., you’re building toward a kind of change will alter how you see your own life—and likely contribute to how you gauge your own accomplishments.
This all sounds quite saccharine and platitude-y, but there’s only so many ways you can go about making your own life into something that you’re proud of. That doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone, by nature, and you can also be sure that it will change as you move forward in life. I think you’re all doing an amazing job of representing yourselves honestly, and that you have a tremendous amount to be proud of already.