I am sure many of you have seen the very silly, yet meaningful Jim Carrey movie, Yes Man. It is about a man who has to say yes to everything, and it ends up sending him on incredible journeys, helps him change his outlook on things, and meet people, including the love of his life. While not to the “extreme Hollywood” extent Yes Man takes it, I believe that the mentality of saying yes to every opportunity and invitation is a great way to discover things that you will actually love in high school.

I met some of the best friends I have today by saying yes to someone telling me I should try out for Comedy Sportz. Though, the thing about saying yes is that you have to put yourself out there. Many people tell me no, they won’t try out for Comedy Sportz because they are too scared, or too nervous, or feel as if they are not funny enough. Sooner or later- better sooner than later, you need to get over that timidity and just try, even if you know fully well that you will fail, because failure is easily overcome, but opportunities can be missed. I tried out both my freshman year and sophomore year for Comedy Sportz at Mira Costa and I didn’t make it. But I just kept saying yes when asked if I would re-try out, and finally I earned a place on the team my junior year, and it has been one of the best experiences of my life.

Last year, a couple classmates from AP Chemistry told me that I should audition for choir. I was very hesitant about it, I didn’t know if I was a good enough singer, and on top of that I was prejudiced towards choir music since I mostly listened to and sang pop. Eventually, I said yes, I would give it a shot. I practiced for weeks before hand every day, training with a current choir singer, and tried out at the end of the year. I did not make it.

However, at this point I was too interested in choir, too enthralled in the music, and had spent too much time preparing to give up. Over that summer I decided to seek out choir singing lessons, and I trained every other week. When this year rolled around, I re-auditioned for the Vocal Ensemble choir and got in! Furthermore, from the advice of my friend Zach, I auditioned for Costa’s Muscle a capella group.

Maybe you heard us singing around school on Valentine’s Day. (P.S. I hear too many people saying that they can’t sing and that you have to be born with the voice. Believe me, this is not true. In 7th grade, I was a terrible singer, and couldn’t even hold a pitch. But I loved it and wanted to get better, so I sang every day, asking people for advice and listening to other singers, and here I am today. TRUST ME, YOU CAN LEARN. And you can have so much fun while doing it.)

There are so many opportunities that I would have missed if I had not said yes and taken the risk to do things out of my comfort zone. I wouldn’t have been in Comedy Sportz, or choir, or Muscle, I wouldn’t have been in senior scenes last year and wouldn’t have gone to the amazingly fun Fullerton Festival, I wouldn’t have met the girl I took to prom, I wouldn’t have many of the best friends that I have today, and I most likely wouldn’t be going to the college I am next year.

Don’t fall into the trap of saying “I have time, I’ll do it tomorrow, or next week”, because time flies and you will find yourself regretting that you hadn’t said yes sooner. Act today, not tomorrow, and have a great four years at Costa!