What’s the worst that can happen when trying something new? Failure.

I recently overcome one of my biggest fears: submitting something (anything really…) to a short story contest at my school. For years I told myself that the next year would be the year. That I would finally get over my fear and submit something for other eyes to see, that weren’t just my friends. The idea of being judged and rejected prevented me following my dream of being a writer. Or, I should say, the idea of being a writer. After putting a lot of thought into it, I’d realized I’d been writing on my own for years! Years! I was just too scared to submit any of my work anywhere.

Then, one Monday in the middle of September 2016, my professor announced that the college’s English Club would be holding a scary story contest. Only rules: be 600 words or less and be Halloween themed. I can do that, I thought to myself. But, should I? I continued. What if my story bombs and no one likes it? I remember sending one of my closest friends a text, asking her thoughts on the matter. She filled me with courage I never even knew I had. Praising the work that she’d read from me so far, and admiring the idea of where my work could go. The conversation with her reminded me of something Mark Twain once said, that “courage is resistance to fear, master of fear, not absence of fear.”

After days of mulling over what I should write, how I should write it, and fear of actually submitting it, I finally set out to write my short story. A dark and creepy tale, told in the voice of a murderess. The catch? The audience only gets to read the murderess side of each conversation. I was ecstatic! I was so pleased that I was able to sit down and write a piece for this contest. The next day, after getting some additional eyes on it, I submitted it to the English Club. Praise and congratulations from my friends and loved ones made me feel accomplished, and I hadn’t even won (Later, I happily found out that I tied for first place)! I felt happy and I knew in that moment it wouldn’t have mattered if I won or not, because I started on this new adventure of finding myself through my writing and through sharing it with others.

So please, don’t let fear stop you from trying new things or doing something you’ve always wanted to do. Fear can be immobilizing, but it can also be a huge motivator. I have such faith in all of you.