After years throughout the elementary, middle, and high school hearing my parents come back from parent-teacher conferences with the same feedback from my teachers, something along the lines of, “so well behaved,” or, “so nice and such a good rule follower.”

It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize these were not the compliments I thought they were. I wasn’t “a joy in class,” I was just the quiet kid the teacher didn’t have to worry about. But at the time I took these reviews as praise. I convinced myself I wasn’t shy; I was respectful.

But I wasn’t just being quiet out of respect, I dreaded attention and like a lot of others I know, I suffered under the spotlight effect. I feared the fishbowl exercises and Socratic seminars, I would study for hours on end and still be afraid to raise my hand in class. That filter between my mind and mouth got really thick, barely anything met my criteria to be said and I went through a lot of classes only saying, “here” for attendance.

This is not to say I’m not the same shy kid — I know I still am. I still fumble first impressions and trip on my tongue trying to talk, but now I don’t let that barrier keep me from new experiences. I would have never met some of the most impactful people to me if I had not taken a few leaps of faith to join clubs and classes that I was initially apprehensive to join.

Whether it was the Robotics club freshman year or just this last semester joining The Vision on a whim, making those connections where I didn’t expect to keep me excited about what the next day could bring. To any students debating whether or not to join that club or reach out to that someone you’ve been nervous to talk to, I hope you go for it. I promise it’s worth it.