Out of the Comfort Zone and into the 'Real' World.

Shy and nervous on my first day, not many words were said in the car ride with my dad on the way. We had left early to ensure I would be PRompt; one guest speaker we had in PR Consultancy in 2013 said something which stuck in my brain... “If you’re going to be two minutes late, don’t bother turning up… Anywhere you go, you have to get there on time!”

I was 38 minutes early. If that’s not prompt- I don’t know what is.

Visibly nervous, my dad asked me, “What’s the matter? You will be fine.”But, would I??
What if I don’t know what to do? What if I don’t know what to say? What if nobody likes me!?One thing in life is that things are not always certain. And it was up to me to put myself out there and give it a go, and get out of my ‘comfortable university zone’- isn’t that what it’s all about?  
I could really be surprised at what the experience could be like. And I was.

I hesitantly walked up the steps into PPR’s West Perth office. Trying to go over ice-breakers in my head was not really helpful. I was also trying to remember every single little thing that I’d learnt at university over the space of three years, to the point where I had overthought too much and I couldn’t remember if the word cheese had one ‘e’ or two ‘e’s in it.

When I got inside, I got to my desk and the people around me smiled and introduced themselves. Throughout the day, I met almost every one. Every one I bumped into spoke to me, and I felt more and more at ease with the more people I spoke to. Every single person I met tried to make me feel comfortable and happy to be there- and I sure was! Although I didn't know exactly what to say to everyone, I smiled and introduced myself, and tried to be as open and approachable as I could be- which was the first step of getting out of that so called 'comfortable university zone'.

What were the nerves for…? I was worried that I wouldn’t know what to say, or what to do.
Of course I won’t know how to do everything straight away, but the placement is a learning experience.

On my first day, I learnt that:

• It’s okay to make mistakes.
• Ask lots of questions.
• Remember and understand that a smile goes a long way.
• It's okay to be nervous, everyone feels it sometimes. It means you care about what you're doing!
• The ‘real’ world can be scary, but only if you let it.

Until next week,
Caitlin