Step Out by Marah

Step Out by Marah - April 2016 Scholarship Essay

I have been taught many lessons throughout my high school career. Some are for simple things and others are for the more important decisions in life. However, the lesson that I would most want to share with younger students, especially the introverts like me, is to not be afraid to talk to people.
I spent my freshman year in my own little circle of friends in the freshman class. The seniors scared me to death and I never talked to any of them if I didn’t have to. The following year, I branched out a little more to the incoming freshman but I still didn’t converse much with the upperclassmen. Halfway through my junior year, however, I started talking to more and more people, even though they usually initiated the conversations. I made many new friends and became even closer to ones I already had.
This year, as a senior, I have made myself go even further than that by initiating conversations with people I don’t know. It was and still is not an easy task for me, but making this decision to step outside of my comfort zone has impacted me in countless ways. As a track athlete, it has made track meets exponentially more enjoyable. I am able to cheer on the competitors I have befriended and talk to them between events. They also can cheer me on when I compete which makes me feel more confident in my abilities as an athlete.
Another positive thing branching out to other people has done in my life is made me more confident and relaxed in social situations. I used to fear that everyone thought that every word that came out of my mouth was pointless and stupid. I was constantly afraid that I would say something wrong or offend someone. These fears made me speak even worse than I was capable of. However, since I have started talking to more people, I have realized that I can say some intelligent things. Also, the more people I have talked to, the more I realize that other people make mistakes when they talk too. It has shown me that I am not the only person who doesn’t always say the right thing.
A third positive thing that has come from this decision is that I have become more comfortable with my future. I will be attending college next year and know less than ten people who will be attending that same college. This originally frightened me because I felt like I would end up making no new friends and be alone all the time. But after attending a college visit day where I talked to other potential classmates, I felt more at ease. It was easier than I thought it would be to make friends with other people.
This is one of the most important things that I have learned in my four years of high school. It is still a struggle for me at times but it gets easier every time I talk to someone new. I believe if someone had given me this advice when I was a freshman, I would have made more friends and had an overall more enjoyable high school experience. To make up for this I try to tell as many people as I can to step out of their box and take a chance. Something as simple as saying hi to someone you don’t know, could end up giving you a new best friend or even a job opportunity. Every time I have taken the risk to talk to another person, it has been worth it.