In 2016, Shonda Rhimes released a book and a TED Talk about her “Year of Yes” when she decided to say “yes” to everything, even if it scared her. She talks about how the “Year of Yes” helped her regain her joy and passion for life’s simplest and most complicated moments.
While Rhimes’ “Year of Yes” is an important reminder to conquer your fears and move forward with courage, it is missing one key point. What exactly should we be saying “yes” to? And when should we truly take a step back and say “no”?
As I think back on my high school experience, I realize that the four years I spent there were unintentionally what Rhimes might call “Years of Yes.” I agreed to participate in everything offered to me, even if I was not that passionate about it. I spent hours on end organizing my responsibilities into endless lists that added three new jobs for every one that I completed.
I worked so hard and for so long with the idea that when high school was over, it would feel like the greatest accomplishment of my life. And it did. When I walked on the stage at graduation, it felt fantastic to look back at all the groups I had an impact on.
Then, I sat back down in my chair on our football field and as fast as that feeling came, it disappeared. That was it. Years of frustration and hard work were summed up with a graduation cord and a pat on the back from my advisor. Everything that was my everything suddenly became nothing.
I realized at that moment that most of my high school activities were not things that I really had a desire to do. I did them because I thought that they would make my applications better or because I felt like I owed something to the organization. From then on, I vowed never to let myself do that again.
That brings us to the first few weeks of my first year at UConn. Walking onto campus, the opportunities were endless. The Involvement Fair was filled with clubs hoping to recruit new members via QR code applications and bowls of free candy. As I walked through the rows of displays, I felt the pull to join everything once again. I came home with around 20 applications and information forms that day.
As I laid out all my opportunities on the floor of my Buckley dorm, I remembered the vow that I made to myself on graduation day. I picked out a few sheets and threw the rest away. This was my “Year of Yes-ish.” I decided to say “yes” to everything, but with one condition: I would only do the things that I genuinely cared about. Gone were the days of joining something just because my friends were doing it, or because it fit in with my college application. For the first time in my life, I joined something simply because I felt like it.
One of those things was The Daily Campus Opinion Section. The Daily Campus offers a community where writers, photographers, artists and students from every major can find a position that makes them excited to say “yes.” In the Opinion Section especially, contributors can write about anything that they are enthusiastic about.
The Daily Campus is full of people who love what they do. The passion is evident when you see the behind-the-scenes of how a new paper shows up in your dorm every morning. People are working on all stages of newspaper production. From writers at pitch meetings to the delivery drivers who wake up early every morning, every person at The Daily Campus puts their all into the organization, and most importantly, they love it.
Starting at The Daily Campus as a contributor and becoming the Associate Opinion Editor is the “yes” that I am most excited about this year.
It is time to start a new chapter of your life. UConn is a new place with new people and endless opportunities to explore your niche. There is no one here to tell you who you should be or what you should do. Find and prioritize your passions and leave behind things that do not bring you genuine joy.
So, new Huskies, my real message is this: make this your “Year of Yes-ish.” Say “yes” to dinner with your friends. Say “yes” to a walk around Horsebarn Hill. Maybe even say “yes” to The Daily Campus. But, only if you want to.