#1 | The Beginning of an Uncomfortable Journey
What’s that?! A Challenge?! 100 Words a Day?! Let’s go! Twelve down.
After 2 weeks of consistently pestering 100NW with no response, I’ve resolved to do it alone. Not out of anger or annoyance (the work it’s doing at is necessary and admirable — I’d still love to write for it if given an opportunity), but rather out of determination.
I wanted 100NW as a platform to share my thoughts as a college student — something I haven’t seen much of on Medium (though I may just be following the wrong publications) — and to have someone keep me accountable to write every day (at risk of being kicked out from the publication). But I gave it some thought and though I would like someone to through my writings and post the quality material at an opportune time and motivate me and keep me accountable (and check me for run on sentences), there’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to do this the same by myself.
This isn’t a project where I draft my thoughts into bullets, come back a little while later (in maybe a day or two) and try to formulate sentences good enough to make sense of them. This is a personal challenge to be more open with myself and others (whoever they may be — from strangers to my potential employers to my friends and parents), and write 100+ words consistently for 100 consecutive days.
I’ve fallen in love with writing as a medium to get out my thoughts and communicate with others, especially when words fail to capture my true feelings, thoughts, and memories. I hope to get out of this project (which will carry into my senior year of college at Cal, a time where I will be stressed to recruit for full-time jobs for post-graduation) the determination and perseverance to be myself unequivocally and unapologetically.
I hope I can look back at this post and smile that this first step I took was an important one into a life of peace, love, gratitude, service, and relentless passion to make the world a better place. I hope my journey through the next hundred days inspires others, especially students, to do the same.
Rahul Rangnekar is a rising senior studying Computer Science and Economics at UC Berkeley. He is an avid athlete, programmer, foodie, and student. He strives to find push himself far beyond his comfort zone to the limits of humanity. His plans to dedicate his life to changing the world.
