I never thought I'd be the one to try something new like snowboarding. I tend to back out of  things, due to fear, and over thinking.    

Like the time in 8th grade when all my friends were trying out for volleyball and wanted me to join them, but at last minute I backed out because I didn't think I was ever going to be good enough to make the team.

Winter break 2015, I was sitting in my room thinking of what to do so I wouldn't be so bored. Most of my friends were on vacation enjoying the nice weather, while I was just sitting in my room laying in my somewhat comfy bed scrolling through Netflix struggling to find something to watch considering I watched most of it already, the ones I didn't watch were the one star ratings that no one liked. I was running out of hope, out of options.. Until I got a phone call from my friend.    

“Hello?” I answered.
“Hey! What are you doing?” She replied.
“Umm, nothing really just trying to find a movie to watch on Netflix, waiting for dinner to be done. I'm starving! Why what's-” Before I could even finish she interrupted me.
“Do you want to go snowboarding with me?! It'll be really fun I promise! I can teach you!” Without really give it much thought, I said
“That sounds fun! I'll go! Just let me eat dinner then I'll have my dad drop me off”

She then gave me the address and told me what I would need. Just a pair of gloves, snow pants, a hat, and obviously a winter coat. I didn't have the right boots for snowboarding, so instead of paying to rent everything like the snowboard and the boots, I just used my friends extras. She's been doing this for almost seven years so she was much more prepared than I was. During dinner I found myself filled with excitement, and wonder. After I ate, I grabbed all my things. As I walking out the door, that's when it all hit me. “Wow, I'm actually about to do this… I'm gonna learn how to snowboard.” This is when the overthinking started to kick in. “What if I fall and I injure myself?! I don't know anything about snowboarding!” I don’t want to make a fool of myself. I don't really do much, let alone anything like this. No sports, hobbies, nothing. I had no clue what I was in for, or what to expect. When we finally arrived, that's when the fear kicked in, but that's normal. What wasn't normal was that I didn't back out last minute like the usual me would. Maybe it was because it was too late and I had no choice, or maybe I just didn't want to give up so easily. I wanted to do this one thing to say I actually did something, and that I tried something new for once. It would be kind of awesome to say “Yeah, my hobby is snowboarding on my free time.” It's not something you really hear too much about, or the easiest hobby, but I was going to give it a try. When I finally had help putting all the gear on and bundling up, we headed out to the hill. Of course the bunny hill, considering I was a beginner. We started with simple things like balance. Then moved on to other things like, stopping and steering once I started getting the idea of things. Of course I didn't get it the first couple of tries, I fell on my butt. A lot. While all my friend did was laugh at me, but overall it was still a great experience. Once I started getting better, and falling less. It was a very proud moment I went up and down the hill by myself without falling. I felt very accomplished! It wasn't perfect, but practice makes perfect and that's what I kept doing. At that moment I realized how much I miss out on experiences when I let my fear stop me from trying new things. I was so glad I didn't let myself back out of doing this one thing, because with this one small thing I learned a lot about myself as a person, and how to snowboard.