Saying 'yes' to opportunities

I'm on the train on my way home from London and my face is beaming with happiness and a sense of accomplishment. I probably look a bit strange amongst the other commuters who take this route daily, as I'm stood in the hallway of an overcrowded train on a Friday afternoon with a ridiculously oversized suitcase and absolutely no chance of getting a seat within the next 3 hours, yet I'm smiling uncontrollably.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/a1b90d_9ad6e363ac5e49ba99a19fd2cc3a4423/720p/mp4/file.mp4

I have just finished an incredible two-week work experience placement in my dream role and I'm feeling really lucky and blessed. I'm a 21-year-old, introverted girl from Cornwall who is anxious about anything and everything, and I've been to London and conquered my fear of being alone in a big city. To some, this might not seem like a big deal, but to me this is a huge achievement.

When I started university, I never imagined that I would come out the other side of it rearing to move away from my family and start up a life in a new place with my chosen career. In all honesty, I had no clue what I wanted to do at the end of my Journalism degree when I first started studying it in 2017. I didn't actually think I would last living away for 3-years but here I am just about to begin my final year, and I'm taking this time to reflect on my achievements.

I can't stress enough how important it is to allow yourself to let go and say yes to opportunities. You will never truly know who you are or where you're heading in life if you stay in your comfort zone forever.

I decided to move away from home because I wanted to push myself to become more independent, and a university 2.5 hours away was just the right distance for me. It meant that I could come home if I really felt I wanted or needed to, yet I was far enough to be able to become self-sufficient. The university I chose to go to is quite a small one, and there aren't many people on my course which was a perfect way to ease my anxious-self into this daunting next chapter of my life. I could have chosen to stay home and study at a university 15 minutes away from my house, but I took the leap and I'm so glad that I did.

Even though I still had my down days, being away for university really helped to boost my confidence with meeting new people and being able to fend for myself, so when the opportunity rose for me to go to London for 2 weeks I just said yes. I knew it was an amazing opportunity, and would hopefully help towards my future so it was an offer I couldn't refuse, and the next thing I knew I was on my way.

Of course, I was absolutely terrified, and it took me about half an hour to even find the exit from Waterloo train station, but I was about to start a short work placement at Hello! Fashion Monthly Magazine and I couldn't wait to get involved and see how the magazine world functioned.

Whilst on this placement, I was talking to the beauty writer who asked me what it was I wanted to go into once I graduated. I told her that beauty was my passion, and she gave me the email for her friend who worked at Marie Claire, so I took that chance and contacted her straight away asking if I could go there for experience.

Two months later, I was on holiday in Spain and got an email asking if I would like to go and work alongside the digital beauty team at Marie Claire in London the next month. I didn't even think about where I would stay or how I would get there, I just replied straight away saying yes.

Although I was terrified for both placements, I chose to just say yes and take the opportunities head on because I knew that if I didn't I would regret it in the future. Looking back, it's up there with one of the best decisions I've ever made, even though I had to stay in student accommodation on my own and live off of cold Tesco meal-deals for a few weeks.