University starts back on Monday, and as usual for the start of a new term I’m a little anxious. I don’t know how well I’ll cope with the new topics we’ll cover, whether I’ll be able to deal with the workload and if I’ll get on with my classmates working as part of a group for the first time. There are a lot of unknowns, a lot to be worried about.
 
If you look back to when I was in high school, starting a new term way pretty routine. I knew all the teachers well already, the topics covered in one year were never a huge leap from the last, and there was never that much pressure to do well. Nothing to worry about.
 
However, that meant school was never exciting either. There was never the feeling of pride about a large piece of finished coursework. No joy that I’d actually got my head around something which I found difficult. It was hard to build up interest in studying the topics we were being taught, let alone going beyond that to investigate areas I particularly enjoyed.
 
If fact, if you look back at some of the best things I’ve ever done, you see one common theme: they’ve all been terrifying.
 
For me, fear isn’t a bad thing. In fact, if I’m not scared by something, chances are I wont do well at it. Being afraid is a reassurance that I’m doing something difficult, and that it’s worth trying to succeed.