Have you ever saw someone dancing and thought to yourself, Hey, I want to be able to do that. Or maybe you saw someone skateboarding and you thought, Wow, I want to learn how to do that.

Whatever the case may be, there will be countless times in our lives when we wish we could do something. Whether it’s learning a new skill, joining a new club, making new friends, it’s a common feeling that many, if not all, people share.

I definitely feel that way. I watch dance videos on YouTube all the time and imagine myself as the main dancer in the video.

Side note: If you have some time on your hands and you’re interested in dance, definitely check out the following videos. These dances are CRAZY GOOD. Perhaps I’ll write an article pertaining to this one day. Perhaps. Perhaps.

1. Royal Family - World of Dance (2015)

This dance… is lit… I don’t even have another word for it. If you haven’t watched it before, you’ve been living under a rock.

2. Kyle Hanagami - Yonce

Honestly, ANY Kyle Hanagami video is worth watching. His choreography is always so amazing and creative, and if you’re into dance and haven’t heard of him, definitely check him out!

3. West Covina High School

The girl in the yellow in Sienna Lalau, who is a very VERY talented dancer and is quite well known in the dance community. This dance is one of the best pieces I’ve ever seen a high school team perform and is the epitome of how hype a high school should be! Definitely worth checking out.

I’m gonna be completely honest here. During my first semester of college, I didn’t really do much. Kinda sad to admit… but in my defense, I accidentally missed the day that all the clubs came out to campus. So technically, it wasn’t my fault. But still, my lack of extracurricular activities during the first few months of school, combined with the fact that I was in a new environment with new people definitely didn’t help me.

For the most part, aside from the occasional times when I would go get lunch or dinner with my friends or go out to the basketball games (Go Aztecs!), I stayed in my dorm and watched a LOTTTT of Netflix. And Hulu. And HBO. So basically, I did what I did back at home in the Bay Area, but here in San Diego.

This semester, however, I wanted to change that. I, therefore, decided to ask some of my friends to take me to their club meetings so I could check them out and see if I liked them.

The first club I checked out was APSA (Asian Pacific Student Alliance). Shoutout VolKano fam! Right off the bat, I loved it. The people were welcoming and I wasn’t even in the meeting room for 10 seconds before someone approached me to introduce themselves.

At the end of the meeting, the president of the club had his own mini-segment during which he chose what he would like to share for that week. For the first meeting, he shared a “word of the week.”

And his word was initiative.

He also explained that it was a little bit different than just relying on chance.

With chance, whatever happens, happens. Some may believe that everything happens for a reason, and some people might not. With that being said, those who believe that everything happens for a reason may take this as a sign that life should take its course and to let everything happen naturally.

So maybe I could have just waited to see if someone approached me from APSA to recruit me and ask me to attend their first meeting. I could have just waited to see if any other clubs would approach me themselves and ask me to join. I could have waited, but it wouldn’t have guaranteed anything.

After he said this word, I realized that taking initiative was exactly what I did. I personally decided to seek out my friend and ask him to take me to his club meeting. Luckily for me, it worked out extremely well and I managed to expand my circle of friends and my involvement at San Diego State.

After the APSA meeting, I continued to take the initiative and decided to join other clubs that I had been interested in during the first semester but was unable to join at the time (again, I missed tabling… not my fault). Point is, unless I took the initiative, I probably would have ended up not anything doing again like the first semester.

So take the initiative. If you’re a “chance” type of person, then take the chance to take the initiative. It might work out in your favor and you might be opened up to a wave of opportunities that you wouldn’t have had if you hadn’t done anything.

Life is too short, and if you want to do something, do it. This does NOT mean to go and burn a building down or something. I’m saying it right now, but I do not take any responsibility for stupid decisions. Make wise choices everyone.

So if you’re hesitant about taking that dance class, or you’re unsure about whether or not you want to talk to that cute person in your class, or ANYTHING, just do it. #Nike

You never know what might happen, and if it works out, then great! If it doesn’t, then it’s okay. Move on and find something else that you like.

Take the initiative and don’t be afraid.