“Don’t be afraid of taking risks, be confident in your abilities and in who you are.”

This is a quote Elijah Green, a communication major, would tell his younger self if he could go back in time.

When asking college multiple students what their personal fears were, they ranged from being scared of having no friends and feeling stuck in a routine to not being able to balance school and life. Some Golden Eagles overcome these fears by taking time to reflect, having a support system and trying to be more patient.

Green said that his biggest fears changed overtime. Before starting college, he was afraid of not finding friends, the workload college was going to bring him and how to live up to his family expectations.

“My biggest fears today are not doing enough and being too comfortable with where I am at,” he said. “I think another fear of mine is not taking time for myself.”

Green thinks that college has an influence on his personal fears and how he handles them.

“When I started college, I was worried I could not balance my personal life and school, because in college it’s really all up to you,” he said. “You have to build a discipline and be independent enough to take care of your schoolwork, to meet deadlines, and to start to realize that you’re now an adult.”

Green believes that one can overcome the fear of not finding friends and being alone by trying to be involved on campus and keeping in contact with family and friends.

“I think it’s important to remind yourself that you are exactly where you need to be,” he said. “Don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself. Nothing comes overnight, you have to keep going and, little by little, you will be where you want to be and beyond.”

Green said that something else that also helps him overcome his fears is being in an environment where everyone is working towards something and with people that motivate each other.

“Advice I have for other college students going through the same fears is to believe in yourself, try to talk to your support system because you aren’t alone,” he said. “Always try to be patient and open minded.”

Civil engineering major Alejandra Martinez-Juarez said that her biggest fear today is getting lazy and being bored of her current life.

“I have a tendency of getting bored of my living situations if they last more than 2 years,” she said. “Because it feels like a routine, and I want to experience new things in life. But to do that, I feel like I have to maintain a constant lifestyle which is hard.”

Martinez-Juarez thinks that college influences the way she handles her fears because school takes so much of her time and she puts her dreams on pause sometimes.

“I feel the pressure of creating a life and having a stable job through school,” she said. “I fear it can stop me from following my dreams of modeling, traveling the world and creating a podcast.”

Martinez-Juarez tries to overcome these fears by surrounding herself with friends that support her and that are hard working people like her.

“What also helps me is taking small breaks and time for myself to reflect on how I can do better to achieve the things I want in life,” she said. “Fears are just part of the process to achieve bigger things.”

If Martinez-Juarez could go back in time, she would tell her younger self to not hold anything back.

“You got nothing to lose and if you feel like you can’t do something, just go for it, you’ll learn something valuable from it,” she said. “Take advantage of the opportunities that come your way and don’t take them for granted.”

Music education major Leonardo Ugalde shared that his biggest fear is keeping a roof over his head while also being able to continue school.

“College is helping me overcome this because it’s showing me that my fears are justified but they don’t control the outcome of my life,” he said. “It’s all up to me to let the fear control me or find a solution to it.”

Ugalde said that college has helped him realize that many people have the same fear.

“I am able to overcome my fears by knowing that I am not alone in this,” he said. “There is always a solution to everything.”

Public health major Marco Toledo thinks that the only way to overcome his personal fears is to keep moving forward and meeting his goals.

“If I could go back in time I would tell my younger self to not be intimidated by failure,” he said. “Because failure will make you stronger.”