When Strangers Become Family

5 months ago I sat in a room of strangers, arms crossed, stomach crippled with anxiety, and my thoughts full of question…

“…am I going to fit in?”

“…am I talented enough to be here?”

“…what’s next?”

As class began, the anxiety only got worse, I have to talk about myself!?

Speaking in front of crowds, whether just a few people or a room full, has always been something I’ve tried desperately to avoid. I even went as far as waiting until my very last semester of college to complete the basic course of Public Speaking. I always thought by the end of college I would surely have the confidence to get up there and talk… yeah right.

The first week of BDW was full of introductions. Awkwardly describing my background and why I am here to every new teacher, and subsequently, my fellow cohort members. Surely they were absolutely sick of hearing about me by now. I progressively got my 60 second, personal pitch perfected. I could likely recite each an every one of my cohorts’ back to the teachers as well, in fact, we’ve done it a couple times.

BDW begins with a bang and never stops banging. I was thrown into projects, challenged to solve problems and forced to stand in front of the class and defend my ideas, solutions and designs. To say this has pushed my comfort zone just doesn’t do this experience justice.

But I’m not the only one whose comfort zone has been pushed. Through these experiences I’ve gained common ground with my cohort members. We help each other. We joke, commiserate and we encourage each other to get up there, let it all out, good or bad. When its over, we will reflect and give pointers, we will be better than we were before we got up there.

BDW students come with an array of talents. While we’re here we grow those talents and stretch them into all the areas of BDW’s teachings. I’ve recently begun to realize we are all here because we have the similar dreams and desires for our lives and the world we live in. Our talents compliment each other and allow us to create amazing things, things I never realized I’d be able to create when I began.

These people are no longer strangers. They are my community, sharing my interests, thoughts, ideas, and talents. They are my friends, the people I’ve spent every moment of the past 5 months with and will continue to in the next 7. They are my family. We eat, we drink, we laugh, we play games, we create, encourage, argue, push, and challenge each other to be our best and produce our best.

I still hate getting up there, in front of everyone, but I am getting better because of my BDW family.

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