Everybody fears something. And if you're like me, you fear many things. People often give their fears the ability to paralyze them, which cripples their ideas, crushes their experiences, and stalls their successes. I know I'm guilty of granting my fears more power than they deserve. That is why I decided to take control of my life and face my fears.

When tackling any problem, you must start with baby steps. My first baby step was admitting I had a problem. My next baby step was vowing to myself that I would face my fears and attempt to conquer them. The steps that followed began a difficult, but highly rewarding journey.

It might be helpful if I list a few of my fears that I plan on facing and conquering which are as followed: bees/wasps, heights, public speaking, and needles. These are all fairly common fears, so people can relate.

Facing you fears and attempting to conquer them makes taking baby steps pretty hard. What made facing my fear of bees/wasps easier was the abundance of bees/wasps on my campus. As a freshman, screaming and/or crying if a bee/wasp gets to close to you isn't the coolest thing to do. Not that being cool is what I wanted to be, but being the crazy freshman with an extreme phobia of bees and wasps wasn't exactly what I wanted to be known for. So I faced my fears of bees and wasps by breathing and remembering that they would not mess with me if I did not mess with them. Bees and wasps still aren't my favorite insects, but at least now I can behave normally in their presence.

The next fear I faced was heights. This spring break I signed up for an alternative spring break, which was a service-based spring break to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, with my school. During our trip we hiked up to Spence Field, which had an elevation of 2,842 feet! While hiking up the trail I was surrounded by friends who supported me. I kept telling myself, in the words of Dory, "just keep swimming" -- or in my case, hiking. I climbed up 2,842 feet and faced my fears one step at a time. The feeling once I reached the top was amazing. Maybe it was because I had just hiked about 6 miles with a 35-pound backpack, but I think it was more likely the fact I had conquered another one of my fears. I definitely didn't get too close to the edge or look down though, but like I said before, baby steps.

This month I faced one of my biggest fears: public speaking. I was nominated by my service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega, to represent my chapter in my school's Ms. LC pageant. I not only had to speak publicly, but I had to do a talent as well. I was absolutely terrified. If it weren't for my wonderful support system I would not have been able to face this fear. My roommate, hall mate and escort listened to me freak out the whole night prior to the pageant and did everything they could to calm me down. My anxiety was bad. I honestly didn't think I could do it, but then I did. I competed in all three of my events and, in the words of my escort, "no one died!" That's what we need to realize is that facing our fears won't kill us, but not facing our fears gives them the power to kill our ability to live life to the fullest.

In the next few months I plan on facing and overcoming my fear of needles. I'm the type of person who can't breathe when walking into the doctors office. When needles are mentioned or seen my heart stops a little. I am absolutely terrified of needles. I cry when I get finger pricks and shots nine times out of ten. For some reason, my fear of needles didn't stop me from getting multiple tattoos. So it shouldn't stop me from saving lives and donating blood, but it has. I cannot be such an advocate for helping those with cancer or life threatening diseases, but not be willing to donate blood. Sure shaving my head and raising money helps, but donating blood is such an easy way for me to help tremendously. So in the next few months I am going to work up the courage to start saving lives and if I can handle that I hope to sign up to be a bone marrow donor.

I challenge you all to face your fears. The feeling of overcoming a fear is a mixture of happiness and pride. I also challenge you to donate blood. Thank you.