Saturday, August 6, 2011

Stepping out of my comfort zone

By Nathaniel Abad (Chicago, IL)

When I first heard about SJP through my English teacher at school, I thought that I would never apply because I wasn’t confident enough about myself as a student. After I shared this opportunity with my journalism teacher, she thought that it was a great idea and she believed that it would be competitive but she had faith in me.

After applying and getting in I didn’t know what to think. When I received the reading packet I knew that this program was no joke. Friday, July 29 finally came and I was on my way to Princeton. This was my first time travelling by myself to go meet a group of people that I knew nothing about. Even though a welcoming group of people picked me up from the train station, I still questioned how I got in.

After the introduction of the program I knew that it was going to be challenging but fun. The very first night I called my mom and explained how happy I was for coming.

In the beginning I wasn’t so opinionated because I was too busy taking everything in. With the help of a wonderful counselor here, I slowly began expressing my thoughts and felt comfortable doing so. As I grew closer to the counselors and students, I found it hard to stay quiet.

This program was the best thing that could have happened to me because I achieved what I thought was impossible and in the process I learned that in order to grow as an individual you have to step out of your comfort zone.

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