There is a definite feeling of apprehension that sets in when you’re about to try something new, something unfamiliar.

However, more often than not, there is also a great reward in challenging your misgivings and giving a new experience a chance.

A particular hurdle I recently overcame was going to a gym.

A summer spent eating pizza and watching cartoons left me looking a little fluffy, so a friend recommended going with him to lift weights at USI’s RFWC. Frankly, I dreaded it. As for a 5’8” socially awkward person whose idea of exercise involves tearing the shrink wrap off of video games, gyms are far outside of my comfort zone.

I had a strong fear of being judged by others.

All of the stereotypes I’d gathered throughout the years from children’s shows and the echo chamber that is the Internet made gyms seem like they were full of dudebros curling 70-pound dumbbells and grunting at each other about “gains” and “betas” between gulps of thick creatine shakes and impromptu flex-offs—a place where someone is wasting their time trying to get in shape if they aren’t already jacked.

Thankfully, I was wrong.

These last few months lifting weights on campus have been great for me. I’m improving myself while surrounded by people with the same goal in mind.

The kind of environment that—big surprise—is naturally cultivated on college campuses.

Between the exclamations of “nice job,” or “that’s a new personal best,” that intimidating, self-esteem-crushing experience I’d envisioned doesn’t seem to exist. It’s been enough to encourage me to do more on campus and meet new people.

We all worry about the unknown and sometimes all we have to go on are the things we already know, or think we know. But an integral part of the college experience is doing new things and working toward achieving your potential best.

One doesn’t progress as an individual by simply not moving, and sometimes—as has been my case—that first step forward can literally be the first in a series leading up to a better person.