Fear

The iconic: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

The dare: "Always do what you are afraid to do." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The acceptance: "I think fearless is having fears but jumping anyway." ~Taylor Swift 

So, now that the cheesy "inspirational" quotes have been used as an [admittedly less creative] introduction (sorry, that last one had to be done in honor of my recent obsession with 1989), we can tackle this very elusive and possibly most debilitating emotion known. I think this time (early 20s, college-aged) is a particularly susceptible time to feel, and even give in, to fear. At Tech, we have this phenomenon called "fear of missing out," more often referred to as "FOMO." In a school and community where so many people are so driven, accomplishing such impressive feats, and taking advantage of a plethora of opportunities, it is sometimes hard to not feel small in the big scheme of life. With so many things thrown at you, it is difficult to know which doors to open and which clouds to chase after. I have definitely been a victim of FOMO--from trying to decide when and where to study abroad to whether or not take an internship or graduate early--I suddenly go from trying to make a simple decision to feeling this enormous anxiety that the rest of my life relies on this one moment. 

Yesterday, at the the Atlanta Undergraduate Research Conference on Health & Society, one of the students discussed fear and the reactions it can elicit: 1. no response, 2. justification of whatever current actions you partake in, and 3. a calculated direct response (where the fear motivates you to actually change your actions). That third response tends to be the most positive aspect of fear. It can motivate us and push us to action. The adrenaline rush created by fear is a catalyst incomparable to any other. 

I am particularly relying on this adrenaline rush as I mentally prepare myself to spend the spring semester on a foreign exchange program in Istanbul, Turkey. After spending seven weeks in Mexico City, I did not expect studying abroad to be anything to be feared the second time around. But then I realized four months is a long time. Other than that, I haven't exactly pinpointed what I am afraid of in Turkey. Maybe it's FOMO, maybe it's early onset homesickness, or maybe it's my inherent fear of rejection and failure. I'm not quite sure of anything, and maybe it's that uncertainty that's so frightening. But that also makes it exciting. There's this prickly anticipation as I think about what the next six months will entail--the challenges I'll face and how I'll overcome them. And as nerve-racking as it all is, I don't want these more negative feelings to scare me away from what could be one of the most impactful decisions of my life (not to be melodramatic or anything).

I have met many different types of people at Georgia Tech--brilliant, inspiring, hilarious, genuine, and much more. But something I've noticed with such intelligent people is their pattern to often let logic and reason outweigh emotions and feelings in their work, especially when they think about the future. Not everything is a perfect and calculated step in a vertical direction. Life is a web, not a ladder. Pieces overlap, new problems arise--our job is to adapt, not avoid. You can't just live your whole life with your head down, stuck in a book, ignoring conflict and unnecessarily safeguarding yourself. You overcome the fear, the uncertainty of what may or may not be "right," and live.

If there's one thing I've learned about college and life and this blurry cross-section of adolescence and full-fledged adulthood it is that if you aren't scared, if you aren't allowing yourself to be vulnerable, if you aren't taking risks, you are doing something wrong. If you're letting this construct of fear in your mind overcome the passion and intuition of you heart and gut, you won't be nearly as successful. It is difficult because, while our bodies can use fear to push us further, it also leads us to first protect ourselves from anything that could seem potentially risky. The only way to deal with this is to push on and tackle the fear head-on. Because taking those risks and overcoming those fears is what leads to life-changing development and memories that last a lifetime.