Tessa stood at the edge of the campus, the cool spring air brushing against her skin. The trees were beginning to bloom, their pale pink and white flowers scattered across the quad like confetti, and the sun was bright, making everything feel new. The graduation ceremony was only a few days away. She could already hear the distant chatter of her classmates preparing for what was next, but for Tessa, the future felt less like a celebration and more like a heavyweight.
She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the stack of papers. The job offers. It was supposed to be a time of excitement, a moment she had worked toward for years, yet all she could feel was a tightness in her chest. This is what I’ve always wanted, right? she thought. But why did it feel like a trap?
Her hands shook slightly as she glanced at the emails—some promising positions in marketing, others in PR. Each one came with potential, with opportunities. But as she stared at the words, they all blurred together. What if I’m not ready? What if I mess up?
“God, what am I doing?” she muttered to herself, looking up at the wide sky. The clouds drifted lazily, and everything seemed so… calm. Too calm for the storm that was brewing inside her. She had spent four years working toward this moment, yet now that it was here, it didn’t feel like an accomplishment—it felt like a cliff she was about to jump off of. She paced along the pathway, her thoughts spinning. Am I even good enough for this? What if I’m just not cut out for the pressure?
She had always been the kind of person to question herself, second-guess her every move. But now, at the brink of stepping into the world, she realized her biggest fear wasn’t that she wasn’t good enough. Her deepest fear was that she was more than enough. That the person she could become-this powerful, capable woman—was someone she wasn’t sure she was ready to face.
“Maybe I’m meant to be one of those people who just… floats through life,” she said out loud, almost hoping the words would make her feel better. But they didn’t. Instead, she felt even more uncertain.

As if on cue, the wind picked up, rustling the leaves of the trees above her. She closed her eyes, letting the cool breeze wash over her face, trying to clear her mind. She wished she could take a breath and just know what the next step was. But what if I’m stepping into the unknown? she thought, feeling a lump rise in her throat. What if I’m walking into a life that’s more than I can handle?
Tessa took a seat on one of the stone benches by the fountain. The sound of the water trickling was peaceful, but her mind was anything but calm. It was a war zone. Part of her felt like she should be excited. After all, graduation meant freedom, it meant a new beginning. But then there was that other part of her, the part that was terrified. What if I screw this up?
“Why is this so hard?” she whispered to no one. “Everyone else seems to have it figured out. They’re so sure of themselves. I don’t even know what I want.”
It wasn’t just the career stuff that was getting to her. It was everything—the expectations, the pressure to have everything figured out, the fear that she’d be tossed into a world where she didn’t belong.
“God, I can’t keep feeling like this,” she muttered again, shaking her head. “I don’t know how to be who they want me to be. Who I want to be.”
And then, in the silence of that moment, a thought crossed her mind. What if the person I’m afraid of is the person I’m meant to be?

The idea stopped her in her tracks. She stared at the ground, trying to wrap her head around it. It was like the answer had been right in front of her the whole time, but she had been too afraid to see it. What if I’m not meant to fit into some mold? What if I’m supposed to break it? A small laugh escaped her, bitter and unsure. But that’s terrifying. The idea of having all this potential… and not knowing how to use it. She had always lived in the safety of small goals, ones that she could accomplish without fear. But now, the world was wide open, and the thought of stepping into it was both thrilling and suffocating.
“Why can’t I just be… normal?” she muttered, staring at her hands. They looked so small, so fragile, like they couldn’t possibly hold the weight of everything that was waiting for her. What if I’m not cut out for this?
And then, as if on cue, a voice broke through the fog of her mind. It wasn’t loud or commanding. It was calm, clear, but gentle.
Tessa…
She blinked, looking around as if expecting someone to be standing behind her. There was no one. But the voice was still there, persistent and familiar. It felt like a soft whisper in her ear, the kind that came from a place deep within her.

Tessa, you’ve been here before. You’ve always been afraid, haven’t you?
She bit her lip, feeling a tear slip down her cheek. She had been afraid. Afraid of failing. Afraid of not being enough. But what if the real fear was something else? What if it wasn’t failure she was scared of, but success? The idea of stepping into the unknown, of becoming the person she was capable of being—it was too much to grasp.
It’s not failure you fear, is it? the voice continued. You fear what you’re capable of becoming. You
fear the power inside you. And that’s what’s been holding you back.
Tessa gasped, her chest tightening as the truth settled in. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in herself. It was that she was afraid of how big she could be. She had spent years waiting for permission to be great, to step into her own power. But there was no one coming to give her that permission. She had to give it to herself.
What if you stopped hiding from it? the voice asked. What if you stepped forward, not in fear, but
in confidence?
Tessa closed her eyes, letting the words wash over her. Slowly, she stood up, feeling the ground beneath her feet with a new sense of purpose. It was scary—no doubt about that. But what if it was worth it? What if the life she was afraid to step into was exactly what she needed? She glanced at the job offers in her hand, and for the first time, she didn’t feel overwhelmed. She felt… ready. Ready to walk into that new world, to claim the life she had always dreamed of. The fear was still there, lingering, but now it felt like something she could work with—not something that would stop her.
Tessa took a deep breath, looked out at the blooming trees and the open sky, and smiled.
This was it. The world was hers.