To conclude, if you had experienced the same fear as I did — whether it was fear of failure, fear of speaking up, or fear of not being good enough — what might have helped you would have been to open up about it. If you had talked to someone — a friend, a teacher, a mentor — you might have realized that you weren’t alone, and that sharing your worries could have lifted a huge weight off your shoulders.
In addition to speaking about it, if you had taken small steps to protect or prepare yourself — like organizing your time, seeking extra help, or simply reminding yourself of your strengths — it might have made a big difference. Sometimes, even small actions could have helped reduce the anxiety and built your confidence gradually.
Looking back, if I had truly believed in myself, I might have dared to take more risks and embrace challenges instead of avoiding them. If I hadn’t let fear stop me, I could have grown much faster, both academically and personally. And if I had understood earlier that not trying is the real failure — not making mistakes — then I would have approached things with a completely different mindset.
So please, don’t let fear paralyze you. If I had faced mine earlier, I might have lived a much more fulfilling experience from the start. Learn from this: your fear doesn’t define you — your Courage to keep going despite it does.
“It’s hard to fail, but it’s worse to never have tried to succeed.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
