Fear your dreams

This summer for me has been about growing and learning. Growing as a person and learning not only things about architecture but also different cultures, languages and people. I came to the study abroad program with a little bit of fear and anxiousness of not knowing what to expect. I recently read lighted sign in London that said "Do one thing a day that scares you" and it reminded me of the quote “if your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough.” I think fear is always though about as a bad thing. The thoughts that might go through one’s head (especially mine) is what can I expect?, what if i fail? but I’ve learned to not fear failure so much because from failures we learn and grow and hopefully not repeat those same mistakes. 

Before when I thought about the fear of failing in architecture, I often thought about “What if I’m not good enough?” but when I read that quote (dreams one) it really resonated with me because it made me feel ok about feeling a little unsure and fearful of the unknown. It makes you a better person (of course depending on what kind of fear) and for me personally a better architect because it makes me strive harder to do my best and open my mind to the unknown and let the new information into my storage of knowledge. You can learn something from everyone and as long as you have that mentality you will always grow and become better. 

In dance there’s always fear when trying new moves, especially of falling and injuring yourself. I would sometimes let that affect me (after getting injured) and it would affect my performance since I wasn’t able to do the move, only when I wasn’t thinking about it. I also was nervous and fearful before each performance, thinking about the dance and who’s out there watching, etc. but it pushed me to do better because I didn’t want to mess up and wanted to do my best. The same happens to me before every review and I am still working on it because sometimes the nerves get the best of me and my mind blanks, which is why most of the time I write everything down.

This summer has been a great experience for me. Although, there have been some difficulties and struggles, I am grateful for that push and challenge because I feel those challenges wouldn’t be given to me unless some potential could be seen in me. I definitely learned a lot, not only from the instructors but from my peers/friends. Traveling after the program, by myself, I once again found myself a bit fearful but I remind myself that is part of the adventure and it is part of life. The day you no longer have a bit of fear, you become complacent and mediocre and that is not conducive to your growth as a person or in your profession. Anything that makes you feel that way you should try to get out of. I’ve become more confident but there always a slight fear. It is also important to be aware and recognize what kind of fear you feel because it shouldn’t inhibit you from doing what you want to do. It is important to not let fear paralyze you but instead persevere and push through to make it to the other side. We have to make the best of the time we have and that’s what I intend to do. I’m so happy of my decision to take the Spain summer studio and will never regret it (even if I’m left broke afterwards haha).

by Alessa Guerrero