Even though these small gestures may not be a big deal at all to others who do these things on a day to day basis, I've been able to gradually see my confidence continue to grow within the first week of school!
1. Branching outside of your usual interests may lead you to new interests and discoveries that can benefit your career and yourself as an overall individual.
One of my elective teachers was so inspirational, she almost made me want to change my major, or at least minor in the subject she teaches. I'm a Fiction Writing major and the very first class on my first day back to school was Introduction to Advertising. (I took this class as a pre-requisite in order to take Copywriting.) Although, I've always known that the umbrella of Advertising, Marketing and PR play a very important role, especially for artists, in reaching success, I never really took the time to study about it until now. As my teacher got into the lecture, her interesting and entertaining way of explaining things opened up my mind and understanding about another industry I've never really known about before. My thoughts led me to an idea of somewhat studying this subject more seriously in the future, as I know it would benefit me and many other artists in their careers.
2. It is vital to push yourself outside of your comfort zone in order to grow.
Unless you don't like improvement or self-growth–although I've yet to meet someone who doesn't–then you should be able to recall at least one moment in your life that you had to get out of your comfort zone in order to make the achievement you did. From hearing so many quotes and sayings about the importance of going outside your comfort zone, I've always known this to be true, but its meaning made another strong visit to me during the first week of school.
The past spring semester, when I was choosing my classes for fall 2016, I was one credit short of reaching 16 credits (I always try to make 16 credits to get the tuition's worth.) and as I could've chosen an easy class about subjects that weren't new to me, I saw a one-credit class that I knew would be a challenge for me. As an ambivert, who, at times, has a strong side of being very shy, my risky self decided to choose Essentials of Interviewing. Although this is a five-week class, I knew it would still be challenging for me. Not only did I choose this class because learning about interviewing is important as a writer, but also because I knew it would help me improve my social and communication skills. During the very first day of class, we were already required to interview a special guest our teacher had brought in; an accredited person with a 20 year span of experience in federal and international law and criminal justice. We were given a few minutes to carefully come up with some questions to personally ask him at our school's TV/news station setup. Instead of being "comfortably" seated in the crowd of people and asking questions like a press, it was individualized and required for us to formally go up to him at the desk one by one. I was one of the last people to go, as my timid self was nervous to ask an inadequate question and to be watched by others. When I went up and began to speak, my fear went away. From seeing how nice and easy-going he was, you wouldn't be able to tell he'd had the expertise in the field he was in. Listening to his response for my question naturally brought a casual and comfortable vibe out of me and channeled my fear into focusing on the guest with genuine interest instead. When it was all done, I felt proud of myself for trying my best and pushing myself into taking this class, even though I know I won't always want to do what's required.
3. Not introducing yourself or talking at all is the key to making things more uncomfortable.
Go ahead, be the first to introduce yourself to others you meet for the first time! Please do. For the most part, nothing bad will come from it! From multiple past experiences of waiting for the other person to introduce themselves to me because of how shy I was, there would be times when no introductions would happen at all. And that's exactly where the awkward stares at one another and wonders of who's who in the same room would blossom into never knowing the great people you could've met and the friendships you could've cultivated. Introducing yourself breaks social barriers, therefore strengthening weak connections and gives you the advantage of networking with others and building your reputation. Other than that, introducing yourself brings out more than just your name, year, major, etc. It shows others that you're confident with yourself, professional and comfortable enough to speak with anyone!
With that, this school year is my first year of being a part of the Executive Board for Columbia College's Asian Student Organization. During the first official meeting of the organization, we took a trip to Chinatown to eat at a restaurant. If I were just the same member I was last year, not on the e-board, I most likely wouldn't have been as open to speaking to a lot of people or introducing myself to others like I did this year. Being on the e-board, I knew it was my responsibility to hold some sense of leadership. From getting ready to leave the building, to taking the train and arriving at the restaurant, I tried to mingle with as many new members I could as much as possible and tried to make everyone feel welcome the whole time. Nothing wrong came out of talking to other people. It just made the time more enjoyable!
A day later, I had to go to an SOC (Student Organization Council) meeting. Long story short, I only knew one person who was there, but didn't have the chance to sit next to him, because of my misinterpretation of his directions for where he was going to sit. (I went to the wrong couch.) Anyway, I ended up sitting between three strangers from a different organization and as all of us sat down eating our refreshments, I could slowly feel an awkward vibe coming along because none of us knew one another. Right away, I introduced myself to kill the awkwardness and made some new friends along the way!
Over the weekend, I went to a thrift store with a couple of close friends and while we were browsing, I continued to really like every song that played in the store. Usually, I'd just ignore my urge to know their titles and the artists, or use the Shazam app. I decided to just ask one of the workers instead and he shared the Spotify playlist with me. I got to practice my communication skills and got some new songs out of it!
