Breaking Out of Your Shell by SGA Speaker Jocelyn Millan

Written/Images by Jocelyn Millan

“Fear has a very concrete power of keeping us from doing and saying the things that are our purpose” - Luvvie Ajayi Jones, author

Welcome back everyone! Whether you’re a new or returning student, starting a new school year can be both exciting and nerve-racking. For me, I’m always excited because I love the feeling of a fresh start with new people, classes, schedules, and much more. However, I know a lot of people don’t feel this way. Change can be scary but the way I see it, change gives so much opportunity for self-improvement.

One of my personal goals for this academic year is to not let fear stop me from doing the things I want to do. Something I fear the most is being too anxious to approach new people I am not familiar with. I know a lot of people also have this fear and resort to just not meeting new people at all. However, let this problem be our self-improvement mission for this year and break this self-made barrier.

“Being quiet is comfortable. Keeping things the way they’ve been is comfortable. And all comfort has done is maintain status quo”.

Luvvie Ajayi Jones said this during her TedTalk titled “Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable” in 2018. When I first heard this, I thought “how did she know?” because I know I’m guilty of staying in my comfort zone. However, I was determined to change that because I wanted to become a better version of myself.

So, instead of being on my phone walking in the hallways, sitting in the student lounge, or waiting for class to start, I am challenging myself to talk to the people around me. It takes a lot of courage to initiate a conversation with a stranger, but I always thought it was worth it because at the end of every conversation, I either learned something, made a new friend, or just felt better putting my energy into something progressive rather than being on social media.

After asking around, I learned that a lot of people actually want to talk to new people but they are too scared to do it. A common struggle many people have is that they turn down opportunities because they are intimidated by the unknown. My advice is to just do it.

Stop getting in your own head about the potential outcomes and make the experience what you want it to be; experiences aren’t predetermined.

Something my Economics professor taught me was that if you expect something to happen, it will happen. I would also like to add that “breaking out of your shell” is a process, it’s not something that can be done in one day. Therefore, it’s common to make mistakes. But don’t dread making mistakes; instead, embrace and learn from it.

Something to also consider is that we are our biggest critics. Remind yourself that while you are making mistakes, you are also improving to become a better version of yourself. Therefore, whether you’re starting the process or you’re halfway there or you already accomplished your goals, I applaud you and congratulate you for taking that big, scary step and getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.