I feel that many people in society today don’t take a chance to try something new. Social Media has drilled into our brains that if we try something new instead of what is expected that we will be shunned. We would become social outcasts. The thing is we would become the total opposite. We would get to meet new people and make new friends that share your interests. This is because you put yourself out there and had the courage to try something new.

Ever since I have been young, my parents weren’t the kind that put me into every after school activity. I actually had to say to them, “Mom, Dad, I want to _______.” So I never did many sports until some of my friends from school told me about Parks and Rec, a place that joined kids together to play basketball. I was in third grade when I finally asked my parents if I could play basketball. I remember the first day, or practice I should say, I didn’t know anyone. I was just a small, little girl looking around for a friendly face in the crowd. Then I looked around at each girl there and saw that that small, little girl was every girl there. We all didn’t know what was going to come out of this experience, but we choose to try something new.

That desire to throw myself into new experiences helped me find an opportunity at a neighboring high school to enter their speech contest. I had never been pushed to speak in front of others, but now this was the opportunity to try and speak in front of others and voice my opinions. It was easy to write the speech, but then I realized I would have to say it in front of people who were literally judging me. I was nervous before, during, and even after I said the speech. I didn’t know why, I knew the speech, I mean I wrote it. Just when I was going up there, all of my thoughts just flooded my head. It was like I had a tiny, little devil on my shoulder telling me all these different things, but instead of a devil it was a tiny, little teacher. After I was actually glad I did it because it reminded me to have the courage and  to go out and try something new.
My biggest experience was when I decided to go to the high school I am now. Since my sister had been in high school, the motto was “You’re going to a public school.” I went to a private school since from kindergarten to eighth grade. My parents had paid for 19 years, so they were ready for me to go to a public school. So, naturally we all assumed I would go to the same  high school as my sister, but my mom changed that one day. My sister did not go to my school because my parents did not think she was independent enough to go, but they thought the opposite for me. On the way home one day, my mom just sprang an idea on me out of the blue. We were in the car and it was silent in the car, until all of a sudden my mom says, “Would you like to go to  New Tech?” She said it so fast, I could barely catch a word. After she repeated it, I had to think about if I wanted to play it safe or to take a chance with this new school I had never really heard of and more advanced than most schools. After a few weeks, I finally choose to go even though I knew I would have to start all over at a new school with all new people.

All of my experiences have helped me shape my belief in having the courage to try new things. This reminded me to go out and continue to try out for things and put me into new situations. I challenge you to maybe try something simple not incredibly drastic, maybe just say hello to someone new and make a new friend.