A/N: I submitted this as a scholarship didn't even read it because apparently taking one dance class doesn't count as being a student. Whoops. I still liked what I wrote.

Were I not afraid, I would…I would be the sky. I would walk out of my apartment tomorrow morning, and I would not spend my day inside, cleaning the dirty clothes of rich people. I would walk out and I would say to the world: "I am the sky". And the world would not question because it would see that I was without fear. Fearless, I would believe.

I would believe that I could do things I could not do. I would take on the world in one fell swoop, and I would lose. Fears may be silly and irrational, and they may stop me from moving too far out of my comfort level, but my fears also keep me in check. My fears keep me paying my bills and showing up to work.

Were I not afraid, I would not be able to help the world. Were I not afraid, I would not have been as cautious in my life, and would not have made it to where I am. I would not be able to make to where I want to be. Being afraid is a part of my life, it is a part of my soul, it is the yang that keeps my flighty yin rooted in reality. Every year I take another step forward, and I become a large piece of the sky. Step by step, and led by both my hopes and my fears, I will someday be in a position of power where I can influence and change the world.