Out of the salt shaker

Lorna Tumuhairwe
Jul 10, 2017 · 2 min read

Iused to be a brutally honest person. This didn’t go well with me most of the time for example I was suspended from school in my S.4 because I had tried explain a situation to my teacher during a soccer game. He said I had talked back at him. I lost a friend because I was honest. Maybe it wasn’t only what I said but also how I said it. For long, I wasn’t sure when to speak and when not to, somehow, I was sure It would get me in trouble. So for a while, I had taken my leave in speaking up and had become unusually conscious about what I say.

Then I apply for Andela. And it didn’t take long for Humaira to discover my weakness during the interview. I honestly told her it was hard for me to speak up to authority. ‘Huh?’ she looked at me with her eyes wide open, ‘You will be surprised about what is expected of you at Andela. We require our fellows to be able to speak up, ask questions and seek feedback.’ I knew I had failed the interview. I left the interview thinking about her words. I was never going to hold back.

I was extremely glad when I received the call inviting me for the bootcamp. I challenged myself to speak up during that phase. My first step was creating relationships with others: assisting others when they are stuck, asking for help when I’m stuck and also seeking for feedback about my work. At first, I first it was really intimidating making a post on Gitter. I thought about every single word as I typed, thought about the post I had sent, wondered what was in the head of the person who read it. Then I realized I also don’t remember what others post so why should I be conscious about what I’m posting especially if it is for my own good?

Behavioral adaptations are not as easy. They require strong mental will and acting against what you really want to do. I don’t know much about addictions but I bet training to speak up has been like stopping an alcoholic from drinking his favorite brew. Its been a week now and I can see the growth in this area. Lorna is now out of the salt shaker. I can now recognize her and she has even become better. Bold and assertive. Thanks to the Andela bootcamp.

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