Transcriber: Katarzyna Lisowska Reviewer: Tulio Leao
As a high school student,
I know that just jumping in can be scary,
but I always find it rewarding.
And I know that just jumping in isn't the easiest thing to do,
but it continues to surprise me how few people do just jump in,
especially teenagers.
Today, I want to talk about the hardest part about just jumping in.
The first step.
From there, it always gets easier.
As Albert Einstein once said,
"A ship is always safe at a the shore
but that is not what it is built for."
Now, obviously, we aren't boats. We are human beings.
But we are still built to take risks. We are still built to succeed.
Think about it.
It is really only the first step that is hard.
The first step - daring to ask a girl out on a date.
The first step - applying to college.
The first step - stepping on a stage.
The first step really just takes a small raindrop of courage
and eventually it will precipitate into a shower of success
as soon as you get your feet wet;
in no time you will be diving into things.
But here is the problem.
So many people don't take the first step.
As a teenager - and I felt this way, too -
I think the number one fear is a fear of failure.
As the author of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling once said,
"It is impossible to live your life without failing at something
unless you live so cautiously you might as well not have lived at all."
Naturally, we are afraid to fail, but we learn the best from our mistakes.
In middle school I played on the basketball team.
Admittedly, I am not very athletic,
but nonetheless, all of my friends were doing it.
During my sixth and seventh grade seasons,
I sat on the bench at every Saturday game,
But finally, in my third year of playing, my eighth-grade year,
the coach finally decided to put me in the game.
I am pretty sure we were winning by about fifty points (laughter)
but, nonetheless, I still jumped in
and after two minutes I had the ball
It was my time to shine,
to make a basket!
So I do what my coach taught me.
I put my arm up, eyes on the hoop.
I shoot the ball.
It glides majestically through the air.
Time is frozen.
And I miss.
(Laughter)
So...
once I missed that ball I realized that,
although I didn't score
I was still a part of the team and I still got to jump in.
So, once my short-lived basketball career ended,
I moved on to high school and - as a freshman -
I was looking to participate in an extracurricular activity.
Obviously, I was not going to be a part of the basketball team,
but I heard an announcement over the PA
for all those interested in joining newspaper,
please show up to room 318 at lunch.
So, at that lunch I found myself sitting in this room.
And at first, I am slightly intimidated,
I didn't know if I wanted to stay
because I am surrounded by sophomores, juniors and seniors.
Nonetheless, they assigned me an article
to write about the school cafeteria.
A month later, here is my article - published in the paper.
I got new assignments throughout my freshman year,
and in my sophomore year,
I am promoted to be an editor of the school paper.
Then, during my junior year,
I am promoted to editor-in-chief of the newspaper.
And I realized
that if I didn't just jump in as a freshman,
if I didn't go to that first meeting,
I would never have the incredible opportunities
that I have as an editor-in-chief today.
This summer, I got to participate
at a journalism camp at the Stanford University.
I also got to shadow a night editor at the Daily News -
excuse me - the Daily Mail newspaper in London.
The day I shadowed was the birth of the royal baby.
A very big day in media!
(Laughter)
So, clearly, I was never meant to play basketball,
but I like to think I am a pretty good editor.
And I realized that failing at basketball
turned out to be not a big deal after all.
The only real failure would not be participating, in either.
So today, I invite you to try something new,
to try something different.
In fact, by coming here today,
by participating in TEDx Encinitas,
by giving up your time today to listen to me and my fellow speakers,
in many respects,
you've already taken the first step.
Thank you very much! (Applause)