I wrote back in August, as I started my senior year, that I needed to be unnerved. I had been inspired by the film adaptation of one of my favorite books, Eat Pray Love, and I really felt that because my senior year was going to be so different from previous ones that I had to push myself out of my comfort zone.
Well, it's been a long and winding road. Without the instant support network of my synchronized skating teammates to fall back on, I spent the first part of the semester feeling incredibly alone. Sure, I had my roommates and my boyfriend was only an hour away in Cincinnati - but I didn't have my "thing" anymore. I didn't have a creative outlet, I didn't have a place where I could go and be a completely different person than I was in the classroom. And that was the beginning of becoming unnerved.
Other ways in which I continued unnerving myself include:
-getting an on-campus job
-running a 5k; continuing to train for a 10k
-participating in class
-taking initiative with professors
-writing Op/Ed pieces for the Miami Student newspaper, without hiding my beliefs, despite being a small liberal fish in a big conservative pond
-applying for post-grad jobs
-completing the interview process for CityYear Milwaukee - and getting an offer
This last one is something that I feel very strongly about, and have had several debates with myself and with others about whether or not tutoring/mentoring kids for 10 months in a city with the 4th-lowest graduation rate in the country was worth the biweekly stipend we receive to cover room and board. Trying to explain that I wasn't doing it for the money, but for the experience, really helped me to discover WHY I wanted to do it so badly in the first place. I'm so excited about being a part of something that has both short-term and long-term benefits, both for myself and for others.
I suggest doing something to unnerve yourself. You never know where it will take you - physically, emotionally, or geographically. It's awesome.
