chicken who crossed the roll never left
the comforts of his shell imagine he
stayed in his a except exploring the
world making an impact and just simply
living life better yet imagine he never
crossed the room your comfort zone is a
place a situation at which you are at
ease without stress and you’re safe so
to say this may sound wonderful but in
your comfort zone
there is no progression you live day by
day like a norm an ordinary person who
does the bare minimum
now I’d usually say a zombie but my
friend here spongebob he was a better
example in your comfort zone you first
though you have control over your life
because routine is comfortable for me I
was comfortable waking up in the morning
getting one bus that it of course if I
made it on time going to school to
practice coming home doing some homework
and going to bed that was my set
schedule and if it ain’t broke then
though I fix it right but now I look
back and it’s like did I do anything did
I at least have fun most importantly did
I do anything of value for myself or for
my community no not at all
this past November I experienced what
getting out of my comfort zone looked
and felt like first it was getting
coupled with the idea that I had a voice
and not only did it matter but it could
have a positive impact on other people’s
lives this kind of responsibility we
don’t think for some people because it’s
like my voice my voice my one voice
could have any power but yes yes it can
it was during my sports practice that I
seen a disconnect between the community
and local police officers but it made me
within my community everyone loves to
play basketball but they’d walk ten
minutes
down the block just to another quart why
because they were uncomfortable with the
police officers so they decided not to
go to the basketball court right next to
the police academy
this was alarming to me because I had a
good relationship with the officers at
the completing their youth empowerment
session two years ago and so this was
when I realized I could use my voice to
change this dynamic because I was on
both sides I could be a powerful
intermediary and so I began thinking I
know I wanted to use basketball as a
common ground and so I thought some more
on how this was going to work eventually
I got my March Madness event to connect
the police officers with the youth and
to encourage a deeper connection between
these two groups the second part of
reaching my comfort zone though was
asking for help many people including
myself see asking for help as a
reflection of our intellect as if we ask
the question and we don’t know what’s
going on we’re not knowledgeable about
this subject the course or even the
situation but people are our strongest
asset fortunately I have an exposed to a
program called griptape who was seeking
young people who wanted to grow in their
learning journeys and so I applied and
once accepted the coaches a griptape
they mentored me on how to turn my plan
third part of reaching my comfort zone
though was the recruitment of both the
officers and the young people I mean how
do you get to groups who are
diametrically opposed to one another to
put aside their perceptions for a game
of basketball and it was during the
recruitment of the officers that I’ve
seen I still had some girls to do in
terms of getting comfortable with
discomfort I mean I had a good
relationship with the officers but due
to the media I found it uncomfortable to
an officer and talk to them about my
project mainly to a white male officer
but it wasn’t like I never tried I
walked for lightly to his car and not
and was quickly dismissed he looked at
me stare for a few seconds and then
continue to do his work
I mean would if I needed help you’re an
officer aren’t you from then on I didn’t
talk to any officer that looked like him
and to be honest I didn’t talk to any
officer but that was part of my journey
so I knew I had to do it I mean how can
you connect the police officers with the
community without the officers and so I
talked to him and I was overwhelmed by
the support that they had given me they
were on board with the project and they
were willing to be part of my event they
were willing to be part of my event
despite the rough start the event went
well it was very successful
but that doesn’t mean it was without
mistakes I mean I made many mistakes one
being I put off starting and if you
don’t know I am a big procrastinator
another one being that I could have
better coordinated all the moving pieces
to ensure that everyone was on the right
page I could have allowed these mistakes
to stop me from my main goal of
connecting the officers in the community
but I felt as though I was too far into
the waters and this was something I was
very passionate about and so I continued
but dude trust me there were times when
I felt abandoning the project so many
mistakes have been made and so many
obstacles put in my way I was
discouraged now we all hate mistakes
well hate is a strong word we all just
like mistakes I’m sure you hear the word
mistakes the hairs on your arm raised
we’ve been taught to feel embarrassed
when we must make a mistake or when
things don’t go right mistakes are seen
as a roadblock when instead they should
be treated as a bridge they allow us to
move forward but maybe not in the way
that we intended to mistakes are not
failures though mistakes are not
failures what distinguishes a mistake as
a failure is that you learn from that
mistake or whether you allow that must
overpower you in this monition stepping
out of your comfort zone it’s
uncomfortable it’s unfamiliar but it
must be done
because what would an egg be what would
the chick beef and not like its egg
nothing and that’s the same with us what
would we be if we were stuck in our
comfort zones
nothing it’s impossible for us to learn
for us to grow if we are stuck in our
comfort zones because there’s nothing
new to learn or to discover now I’m sure
you’re sitting here thinking of the time
you should have stepped out and you have
many good reasons on why you have it see
what happened was go enter your Excuse I
I mean good reason but you can let go of
these good reasons because luckily
you’re not this guy you’re not the
standing so you have every opportunity
to step out stepping out is it
comfortable again thank you there are
six steps on why we here are six six six
steps on what we can do to step out of
our comfort zones one we can challenge
ourselves take a risk it can be as small
as raising your hand in the class that
you better tip it in or as large as
jumping out of an airplane and for some
of you entering the Soul Train line can
be a risk and not only a risk to you but
don’t allow your inner self to deter you
you’re going to have those thoughts like
maybe we shouldn’t do this you’re going
to have doubt you’re gonna have
nervousness and most importantly that
one thought in your head what if we mess
up
go ahead mess up make mistakes how can
we learn if we do not make mistakes and
learn from them again because if you
don’t then yes it is a failure most
lastly acts for help and accept and
appreciate those who help you because we
don’t have all the resources that we
need what be tangible or intellectual
I’m sure there’s someone there to help
you
there was a mince of arguing the
mistakes that I made now for the future
I understand time management and that I
have a problem and I need to get help
conflict resolution and strategies
because so many obstacles have been
putting away and so many mistakes made
and most importantly community outreach
because we’re not talking to those
around us if we’re not talking to those
within our community then what are we
doing and how are we doing it these
mistakes combined with me stepping out
of my comfort zone allow me to be
capable of being a true agent of change
as it does to each and every one of us
every day we have on this earth we have
the opportunity step out and to progress
to make mistakes and learn from them to
have fun and make change while doing so
will you be the chicken that crosses the
road remember life begins at the end of
your comfort zone so join me and let’s
get uncomfortable [Applause]