Two weeks ago, I began shadowing as a part of my Exploring Health Professions class. At 7:30 on a Monday morning, I walked into KU Medical center feeling under-caffeinated, sleep deprived and anxious. I had spent the previous night tossing and turning, imagining a plethora of worst case scenarios as I desperately attempted, and failed, to get more than three hours of sleep. I woke up with dark circles under my eyes, and my heart was beating wildly in my chest before I even walked out to my car to drive downtown.

Once I arrived at the hospital, I checked into the department I was assigned to for the week. A volunteer stared me down as I timidly explained that I was a high school shadow student and he demanded that I  stand still for my photo i.d. but I was scared the photo would appear blurry from how badly I was shaking in my scrubs. As I walked through a set of double doors and approached the nurse’s station, I couldn’t help but think “You’re not supposed to be here.”

Needless to say, I was pretty much scared out of my mind.

We are all required to face new situations, some of which can be pretty intimidating. This poses the question of how to best go about putting yourself out there without letting your nerves get the best of you.

There’s no use denying it, new experiences can be frightening, so one of the key things you have to do is own up to that fear. From my experiences, fear can often times mean that you care and want to do something right. So learn to say to yourself, “I am afraid right now, but I can do this.” Once you accept the initial sense of fear, it becomes that much easier to move forward and face whatever it is you’re dealing with. Chances are, you’re not the only one feeling afraid, so there’s no reason to be ashamed.

It’s also important to accept confusion. A situation wouldn’t really be new if you were confident that you knew exactly what was going on at all times; so welcome that sense of doubt and work through it. Ask questions and get answers. Even if the first person you ask for help refuses you, it’s usually pretty likely that someone will understand your trepidation and lend a helping hand. Sometimes taking the initiative to ask someone for help can earn you respect.

Most of all, just remember to breathe. Always, always take a quick moment to take a deep breath and remind yourself that– no matter how big and scary your current situation may be or how badly you might mess up– life goes on. If you make a mistake, that’s fine– just go with it. If you don’t, even better. But regardless of what you do, the world’s going to keep on turning.

So, let’s return to my first day of shadowing.

As to be expected, I looked like a deer in the headlights in my i.d. photo, and when the man at the desk to me to, “have fun,” I responded with “you too,” but everything ended up just fine. By some  miracle, I ended up where I was supposed to be and the nurse I was shadowing seemed happy to have me despite my initial apprehension. When I returned to the hospital the next morning, I certainly didn’t feel right at home, but my hands were no longer shaking and I didn’t feel like I was going to bolt at the first sign of danger. All in all, I learned a lot from my week of shadowing, not just about medicine, but about myself as well.

Facing new situations may never come to be the easiest thing in the world, but that doesn’t mean that it always has to be the challenging task you’re ever faced with. Just remember to keep your head held high and remind yourself that you are capable of so much more than you think you are.