Saying “Yes”
While sitting on a plane halfway across the Pacific Ocean, staring out into the pitch-black water, it was there that I realized this was real. I was about to spend the next four months in Australia, without friends, without family, without a single person that I knew. It was terrifying. I kept double-checking my thoughts, even contemplating how I could buy a plane ticket back to America as soon as I landed in Sydney.
But fourteen hours later, I was flying over the Sydney Harbor, completely in awe. I couldn’t believe I was actually doing this on my own. I couldn’t believe I said yes to hopping on a plane with two suitcases and flying across the world.
Over the next few weeks, I was both terrified and excited, smiling through the fear of trying new things. As someone who thrives in the comfort of what I know, saying yes to anything and everything is just not who I am, or who I was. But if I hadn’t said yes, I would have never joined my host university’s run club in Australia and met my best friend. If I never said yes to going to hockey tryouts, without knowing a single person, I wouldn’t have fallen in love with my sport again. If I didn’t say yes to one of my biggest fears, I wouldn’t have met people from around the world.
I was terrified of the ocean (I know, ironically, I’m scared of the ocean and still chose to study abroad in a country surrounded by water). But something in me told me not to sit myself out of going surfing when it was offered to me during orientation week. I didn’t want to hold myself back from a once-in-a-lifetime experience just because of the anxiety rushing through my veins. So I picked up the board, zipped up an uncomfortable wetsuit, and walked into the ocean. There was seaweed all around me, waves bigger than I had ever seen at the Jersey Shore ahead of me, and somehow, some way, I paddled out, got up on the board, and stood for less than a second before falling back into the water. It was terrifying, and all I wanted to do was try again. That one surfing session with my orientation group even led me to say yes to signing up for a weekend surf camp.
Despite being scared of almost everything I agreed to while I was abroad, doing so allowed me to meet people who changed my perspective on life. I explored a country that had so much to offer, and now I only hope I get the opportunity to go back one day. Even though every ‘Yes’ was intimidating, I now find myself saying yes to so much more, even after moving back home. So if you’re feeling scared or unsure, wondering whether it will work out, or if maybe you should just stay comfortable with where you are, I urge you to say yes. It will be scary, but it just might change your life.
