Month: November 2017

The Night Before “The Biggest ______ of Your Life”

How to cope with nerves and other things before the big day

Clearly for me, it’s the night before The Biggest _____ of my life.

I left that blank so I can keep you readers on your toes. But, you’re probably curious as to how I’m feeling. No? Well, I’m going to tell you anyway.

I FEEL NERVOUS.

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I mean, why wouldn’t I? It’s The Biggest _____ of my life! I think the key thing to understand though is that I’m still just a college student with much life ahead of me, regardless of how tomorrow goes.

But I’ve had The Biggest [game, date, test, blog, etc.] before, so, why am I still nervous? I’m clearly still here after those events. They didn’t drastically alter my life but they provided learning cues for me to be able to write this blog.

I think one of the most important things I’ve learned is that I’m not the only one who’s feeling or has felt this way before. Everybody started as a nervous person faced with a daunting task. If you can understand you’re not alone in your situation, I think it provides quite the cool down of emotion.

Because you really don’t want to be jittery going into The Biggest _____ of your life. You must cool your emotions! Have a glass of water, listen to music, and do whatever you need to do to relax yourself before the event.

I can tell you I’ve gotten nervous just thanking somebody before. I’m serious. I was literally thanking someone for a favor and I was shaking and stumbling my words a little bit. Isn’t that crazy?

To me, it was! I was shocked at my reaction to that situation. I told myself, “You’ve walked into bigger situations and more nerve-racking moments than just saying ‘thank you’ to someone. What the hell was that?'”

Being able to evaluate myself and know where I went wrong is a big factor too. If you can break down your mistakes and weaknesses and turn them into strengths, you’re walking on rose petals.

Now, when I go to thank somebody in the future, I’ll know that it’s really weird to be nervous about saying thank you to someone and it won’t happen again.

I also think of my younger brother in a recent learning opportunity of mine. My former high school’s football team just won the 8A State Championship of Illinois. With my older brother as a coach and my younger brother as a player, I was able to live vicariously through them as I reminisced my days of being a part of that great football program.

I got to be a part of another state title run for Lincoln-Way East back in 2012. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out the way we wanted it and in all reality, no other game I ever played after that one ever came close to the magnitude of that loss.

As I bombarded my brother with congratulations and a hug after the semi-final win to go to state, he and a few of his teammates responded the same way: “We’ve got one more to go.”

The way they viewed a state title game really had an effect on me. I was so incredibly proud of the poise within my brother and his teammates. It’s changed the way I have to think before tomorrow.

Even a State Championship football game is just that– a football game. There’s no reason why you should view The Biggest _____ of your life as anything more than just a regular _____.

If the learning opportunities are learned from and the correct actions are taken at the time to take them, you’ll be fine. I’ll be fine. I just have to be myself, prepare correctly, and react the right way.

I appreciate you, reader, for reading this small vent session before my big day tomorrow. But, if my Biggest _____ steps have helped you in any way, I wish you luck in your endeavors.

It’s not everyday you have the opportunity at The Biggest _____ of your life. So, 1) Make it count when you do. 2) Relax. 3) Evaluate past mistakes in similar situations and capitalize upon them to make yourself better. And 4) It’s just another _____ so just go in there and attack it!

~DS

Never Lose Your Voice

Maintaining or creating originality in a world full of it

It’s been awhile since my last written blog.

Certainly, if you read my breakdown of the last Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer, you’d know why. But, this isn’t about that. Well, maybe it is.

In a lecture today for my Reporting Class, we discussed how a room full of writers still have to refine, adapt, and pioneer their writing styles. For it being a college course you’d think, “Well, why is it so crazy that writers are learning how to write in a reporting class?”

It’s a solid question, sure. My issue with it is that if a room full of people journalists need to be taught how to have a voice, we’ve failed. I observed the lecture hall and people were frantically scribbling down what came on the screen. The senseless sycophancy made me step back and think about originality and voice.

I brought up my Star Wars blog earlier. I didn’t write that blog and breakdown that trailer because I had to. I did it because I wanted to. I wanted to generate thought about what the scenes, sequences, and spoken words meant for the Star Wars saga.

This blog became a small forum for thought. Whether many people were going to see my breakdown or not, it didn’t matter to me. I just made sure my voice was out there in case anyone was listening.

An E.B. White quote was given in that lecture today and it really struck a cord with me. White says, “To achieve style, begin by affecting none.”

I even used it in my daily #AttackTheDay post:

White’s quote is significant to me because it opens up understanding about voice. You can’t change the world immediately with just your own voice. It’s unfortunate in that manner. But, White isn’t saying stop because of this. He’s promoting originality and style by starting small.

Nothing starts large. An idea can turn into a larger conversation and that’s the goal for us writers. Generating conversation through our style and words is what can change the world.

Understanding that your voice alone can be one that creates change is the first step to originality. Your style and your voice become topics of conversation once read. It’s a chain reaction from there.

I think a lot of people are worried about the judgement of others or the social barriers of voice. This past July, I made a change in my life: I started watching Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Since I began the show, I’ve become less concerned about what people will think about the things I say or do. I just make sure to not lose my ability to say the things I say or do the things I do because that’s what makes me who I am.

Larry David is someone that embodies the inside thoughts of many. He may be considered an asshole but to me, he is the master “Social Assassin.” He says what he wants to say regardless of what people will think or say back.

For example, this scene from the latest episode perfectly embodies Larry’s ability to speak his opinion in situations when people usually wouldn’t.

Everybody should say they don’t like tap water if they don’t like tap water! Speak your opinion! Write your opinion! Put your voice out there without hesitation from judgement!

That is how originality and unique voices stand out in this world. So many people want to pick sides on things nowadays. Try making your own side. Stand in the middle and create a unique voice whenever you can.

There’s no excuse not to speak freely as a writer or as a human being. Be honest with yourself and the world. Have remorse but don’t let anything go unsaid.

If you’ve done this, great. You have a voice and you can start generating conversations to make a name for yourself. If you haven’t, it’s never too late to generate your voice into a mass conversation.

Insert your voice into society. Speak loudly and clearly without hesitation. Generate conversation and most importantly of all, let out your inner Larry David.

~DS