My whole life, I have feared the use of semicolons. They are a punctuation mark which I despise; it's one I wish did not exist. I could spend my entire life avoiding semicolons; however, all writers must eventually be willing to take a risk and learn the proper usage of semicolons.

As said by William Strunk in The Elements of Style, "If two or more clauses grammatically complete and not joined by a conjunction are to form a single compound sentence, the proper mark of punctuation is a semicolon."

Think about it.

I could voice the following opinion about college in three ways:

1. College is a challenging endeavor that causes endless stress; however, a college degree can open up several job possibilities.

2. College is a challenging endeavor that causes endless stress. Despite this, a college degree can open up several job possibilities.

3. While college may be a challenging endeavor that causes endless stress, it opens up several job possibilities.

The first form of the sentence is clearly the best one. It does the best job of connecting the two ideas while staying brief and avoiding a choppy sentence structure.

Semicolon use is important to learn; though, this lesson is about more than how to use the feared punctuation mark.

There are many risks in life we avoid out of the fear of failing. Failing can sometimes make or break certain aspects of our lives. Despite this notion, what do we have to fear when we fail? It ultimately depends on the situation; yet, most of the time there is not a whole lot to fear.

Did you fail at getting a girl's number? Talk to another girl. Did you fail to get the job you were seeking? Consider other job options.

Face your fear of failing. Plain and simple.