Take A Chance

(Image found on Pinterest)

When it comes to just about everything in life, everyone always tells you to be yourself, and the rest will follow. Try telling that to a person with social anxiety who just about overthinks everything! While I agree that it's always best to be yourself, it's a scary thing to do. Going into my sophomore year of college, I never imagined I'd be a part of something at UIC let alone UIC Radio. Ever since I became a student at UIC and learned that we had a radio station, I always wanted to be a part of it but never had the courage to apply. It wasn't until this year that I decided I'd put myself out there more, and what better way than to apply to something as cool as UIC Radio?

As I finished up my rough draft of what my blog would be like, I was proud of myself for what I had written and quickly reread it one last time to my best friends before turning it in. With their approval, I hit the "turn in" button and shut my laptop. All I thought of in that moment was "And now we wait." As time went on, I thought about just how much fun I had writing for my application to UIC Radio. I was always a fan of writing; I consider myself to be a writer and a poet. I've always thought that writing, especially poetry is such a strong way to immortalize whatever it is you're writing about. If you want something to exist forever even after you're long gone, write it down.

While I rediscovered my love for writing, I simultaneously thought about the possibility of rejection. "What if they don't like what I wrote?" "What if they think it's boring? etc." I quickly gathered my thoughts. Even if they didn't like what I wrote and thought it was boring, that's okay; it just means that people have different tastes, and that doesn't make me a bad writer. I quickly resolved that internal issue and instead focused more on how I could perhaps start my own blog if they didn't accept me. Either way, no matter what happened, I had gotten something out of it.

As I sat in my Criminology lecture, I suddenly felt a faint vibration coming from my phone. As I peered over to my left to see my phone screen, I saw the Outlook notification staring right back at me. Thinking nothing of it, I decided to open the email and was happy to see that UIC radio wanted to interview me. I quickly messaged my friends, telling them the good news, and went right back to my lecture. The day of the interview finally came, and I was excited yet nervous. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach, and the anticipation I had felt from the days leading up to this had finally accumulated. As I walked in to meet the person who was about to interview me, I quickly reminded myself to just be myself, so I took a deep breath and went for it. Time flew by, and before I knew it, the interview was over. "That wasn't so bad," I thought.

As you can tell, everything ended up working out! Putting myself out there was definitely scary, but it was so worth it. If I hadn't applied, I would have never reignited my love for writing, and I would have never gotten the chance to be a part of something that I think is cool. Speaking to anyone scared of taking a chance on something, whether that be a new career opportunity, an internship, or even telling that one person how you feel about them, this is your sign to do it. Take that chance and allow yourself to have those cool experiences; your future self will thank you for it.

-Dia