Cheyanne Saddler on Embracing Fear

The summer before my senior year, I visited Wartburg for the first time. At the end of this visit, I knew two things for certain: 1) Wartburg was going to be my home away from home come fall, and 2) I had to make sure I spent a semester in Denver. Even though Denver has been a part of my plan from the very beginning, I was terrified to move to Denver. Nearly 14 weeks later, I am amazed at how much has changed.

Fear is by definition, “an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or is a threat.” Nothing seemed more threatening than moving 982 miles away from my family and friends. I do not think I am alone when I say I was afraid to move to Denver 14 weeks ago. In fact, looking back on our group’s first encounters, it was obvious that we were nervous and even afraid of the semester that lay ahead.

Denver changed the way I look at fear and being afraid. Before coming to Denver, thinking about the future terrified me. I spent the fall semester convinced that I no longer wanted to teach, and I was afraid that I had just “wasted” 4 years of school. I feared life after graduation and all of the unknowns that came along with the end of my college career. I feared that I wasn’t going to be good enough to land that dream job we all talk about. I was afraid to live in a city. There were a lot of things that I was afraid of and it was starting to take a toll on me.

We all know that fear can limit you and your vision, but I have also realized that it is a necessary part of the journey. Denver helped me see that good things come out of fear. Fear has the ability to keep you focused on the past or worried about the future, but when you take your fear and acknowledge it, you realize that right now, you are okay. Every time I acknowledged my fears and made the decision to surpass them, I gained strength, courage, and confidence. This newfound courage and confidence led to me believing in my talents, my abilities, and my self-worth. Denver helped me transform my fear into freedom, and for that I will always be grateful.