Growing through challenges
Before I started college, I thought I wanted to be in an environment that challenged me. Early on in high school, I grew tired of consuming spoon-fed information, and I craved more knowledge and experience.
I started to “challenge” myself, or so I thought.
I became a copy editor for my school newspaper, started working with different publications online and reached out to companies about ways to get involved.
But those experiences didn’t teach me what challenge feels like. Instead, they bred me to be a complete and utter control freak. All of the work I did outside of school required a great deal of independence, but I happened to already thrive in those situations and had no problem adjusting.
I didn’t have to deal with people correcting me or questioning me or challenging me. Inside and outside of school, I had the freedom to do exactly what I wanted.
If anything, those experiences challenged me to take charge of my passions and explore opportunities that weren’t explicitly offered to me. But no one ever pushed me out of my comfort zone.
“I want to be challenged,” I thought. But here, when I actually was-when I got grades that I didn’t like, when I had my words crossed out by other people, when I felt the control slip away from me, I felt lost. Angry. Frustrated. Annoyed. Helpless. Insulted.
Or challenged, as some would say.
Sometimes, we have trouble seeing ourselves for who we really are. Or, at least, admitting to ourselves who we really are. We’d prefer to view ourselves as confident rather than stubborn, sure of ourselves rather than misguided, smart rather than textbook literate.
I didn’t want to be challenged before. I wanted to do exactly what I wanted and have no one question any of it. Now, I realize that when I’m challenged, I become better. I grow.
Challenge isn’t about doing what you find comfortable in bigger, better ways. Challenge is about doing what scares you and keeps you up at night thinking.
Challenge redefines what we believe ourselves to be and forces us to analyze ourselves. It makes us stronger individuals than ever before.
