Marcela Bakhshi

If you knew me two or three years ago, I was the most anxious person in the world—constantly overthinking and stressed about everything. It was really bad and borderline debilitating. So when I was thinking of applying for an exchange, I had zero idea where I was going to live, whether I was going to make any friends, or what the VISA situation was going to be like, and it really forced me to be comfortable with the unknown. I had to condition myself to believe that even if things didn't go as planned, I would still be okay in the end.

So, I would say, the only way you're going to overcome your anxiety is if you push yourself. There's no other way around it. If I never did, I can't imagine the person I would be today, let alone speaking in this setting.