We Should Learn to Overcome Our Fears

Someday I would like to pursue a career in child psychology. I’ve always enjoyed helping other people. My interest in helping others began in my sophomore year during which I took a class called Teen Leadership. The class was structured on a training system in which we had to do activities that tested our abilities to open up to one another.

In the beginning I remember being committed to not opening up to my classmates, but it wasn’t me in particular we all were reluctant to change. But as the year went on we were put into situations that molded us into one big “family”. I particularly remember this one activity in which we went to a ropes course. I entered and immediately said “no way”! I got to the top of the course feeling like I was going to it but my fears got the best of me. With a feeling of regret overcoming me I took the steps down. My teacher stopped me and said”you’ll regret this if you don’t go through with this, your will to accomplish any obstacle will be determined by this moment here. Your abilities and your limitations are only defined by how low you want to set the bar, so go”. I steadily crawled up the stairs and looked across to the other side. There were all my classmates all yelling words of encouragement. I stood there frozen in time waiting for my heart to stop pulsing. I envisioned myself letting go of the cliff that I so desperately clung to and grabbed the rope. I snapped out of my trance and closed my eyes. I let go of my mind and jumped.

I realized that I changed my self conception about myself, when I changed my self conception, it changed my identity and released me from my limitations, that were holding me back. A few months later I was asked by my teacher to staff in teen leadership 2, along with my fellow classmates, we would have to set up obstacles similar to the ones we had done. When it came down to start the seminar a few weeks earlier, we were inadequate to do what was asked of us. Despite the odds being stacked we gave it all we had. When we opened the doors I saw the faces of all the reluctant teens. They all seemed scared and timid”: afraid of what was going to happen to them. I had a flash back of the time I was going to fall off the cliff and I felt like I could sympathize with them.

Ironically, despite the fact that I was the one doing the teaching, about how to open up in a difficult situation and overcoming fears. I realized that they were the ones who were teaching me and that I still had so much to learn about overcoming my fears of failure and rejection when it came to leading others and that I could change the lives of a group of people.

I consider my time spent in the teen leadership programs a very valuable lesson, because I was exposed to different situations that I was not used to I had set goals that I knew would take me far in my career.