Trying to get into yeshiva or seminary can be very stressful. There are many applicants and only limited spots and, unfortunately, people have to get rejected. One of the ways in which a person can give himself an edge is by working on his bitachon in Hashem. The pasuk tells us, someone who is bote'ach b'Hashem is surrounded by Hashem's kindness. It is an enormous zechut which Hashem rewards in this world as well. A man told me, six years ago his son was applying to yeshiva high school and he sent in an application to four different yeshivot . The father made sure his son reviewed his Gemara over and over so that he would be able to do well when those yeshivot would test him on it. One day, his son's 8 th grade rabbi called him and told him he is not doing enough to get his son into a good yeshiva. He told him various things that other parents were doing, including making connections or being more persistent, to give their children an edge. This man told the rabbi he was doing the normal hishtadlut and he fully believed that Hashem was in charge of which yeshiva his son would get into. He went on to speak very strong words of bitachon . The rebbe heard him and praised him for the great level that he reached. To see the extent of how powerful his words of bitachon were, the next day a principal from another yeshiva called him to tell him that he heard some of the lines of bitachon he told that other rebbe the previous day and he wanted to hear them for himself. His son began the interviews with some of the yeshivot that he applied to, but then he told his father his dream was to go to a certain yeshiva which was considered one of the top yeshivot in all of America. It was known to be extremely difficult to get into. But this father happily encouraged his son to "go for the gold" and so they applied there as well. He told his son, "Hashem is in charge and if this is a good yeshiva for you, He'll help you get into it." A couple of weeks later, his son was going on a Shabbaton and the boys were asked to prepare a devar Torah to say at the meals. The boy was learning Masechet Kiddushin and his father remembered a davar Torah that his friend told him from the Mishnat Kesef when he was 16 years old that connected what he was learning in Masechet Kiddushin to parashat Mishpatim . He told his son the devar Torah and then told him not to take anyone else's place if they wanted to speak. He should only volunteer when no one else wanted to. For the leil Shabbat meal, there were three volunteers. For the Shabbat day meal, another three and for Seudah Shlishit another three. But finally, at the Melave Malka , nobody volunteered so this boy raised his hand and offered to give the devar Torah. Since it was after Shabbat he was able to speak into a microphone. Right before he began speaking, His Rosh Yeshiva who was there received a phone call from the administrators at that top yeshiva asking for information about this boy who applied to their yeshiva. The Rosh Yeshiva told them he was about to give a devar Torah and they asked to listen in, so he put the phone by the boy and they listened to the entire devar Torah. It was extremely impressive and they decided on the spot they wanted this boy in their yeshiva. Baruch Hashem, the boy spent the next four years growing tremendously in that yeshiva. It was perfect for him in every way. The odds of him getting into that yeshiva were very slim, but with Hashem, odds don't matter. They had full bitachon in Hashem and, in that merit, Hashem helped them get in in an amazing way, timing that phone call from the administrators to the exact second this boy was speaking. The best hishtadlut we can make is always improving our bitachon in Hashem.