Family Matters
High school is hard enough. Jump in as a stranger to the public school system and you
have a valid reason for terror. Ready or not, it's what Mallory, now a confident
college sophomore, had to do.
"I was home-schooled all the way up to eighth grade," she said. "I had never set foot
in a public school, and all of a sudden I was thrown into this different world."
Can you imagine anything more frightening for a teenager? Spending fourteen years
surrounded by family and known friends, and then tossed into a treacherous jungle of
cold hallways, stark rooms and hundreds of peering eyes poised to pounce? It would
test anyone's confidence.
Her fear, though, vanished one day. Her cousin was the key.
"After spending the day shadowing my cousin, learning how things worked--where to go
and what to do--I felt completely different," she told me. "I thought, I can do this."
Before that day, Mallory's imagination ran wild. She didn't know what to expect, so
her mind busily filled in the blanks. Even now I find myself doing this. Hours before
doing something unfamiliar, my brain conjures up some wild predictions. When met with
facts, however, they fizzle away.
The same tip will work for you. Learn about the things you want to do or have to do.
Not sure you can reach that ideal weight? Learn the facts about your body, about the
science behind gaining and losing. Doubt that you have what it takes to make it into
your first choice of college? Research the school and its admission criteria. Think
starting your own business is impossible? Take Mallory's lead and talk with someone
who has been there.
The more you know about the things you want, the less fear can fill your mind with
doubt.
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