Stepping out of the Shadows
By Annika Prom
Stephanie Davis began writing at a young age and recently won a writing award for a short creative story, but she felt too shy to boast about her achievement due to only receiving second place.
“It’s hard to have good days,” she said about her shyness.
Despite being a secretive person, the Rogers High School senior is trying to break away from her introversion. Though she occasionally wants to hide from friends and family, Davis cannot always escape the spotlight. As a journalist for Rogers’s The Commoner, she cannot hide her writing.
Davis keeps trying to take risks in other ways. For example, Davis felt she took a big risk when she walked into her first robotics meeting as a programmer. In time, someone took the role from Davis, and she began using homework as an excuse to skip robotics meetings.
Do everything, because if you skip out on things you want to do, you’ll regret it. Even if it’s a mild interest, just go.
She once considered quitting, but could not leave the team due to once again being the only programmer, Davis said. She became more confident in her decision to stay, and she now reminisces about late, groggy nights in robotics spent complaining with her teammates about school. Davis’s complaints may not last forever as she intends to attend a college out of state.
To develop a sense of extroversion, she has scheduled overnight camps when she has the opportunity. Because she is not accustomed to going out, Davis said the camps can be challenging.
“I’m just trying to disconnect [from family and friends] to practice staying away from home,” Davis said.
She also contends with the effects of Obsessive‐Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Having OCD causes her to deal with tolerating pain and irrational fears, such as childhood fears, Davis said. Even in the shadows, Davis tries her best to stay positive and get back on her feet. When her grandfather was admitted to the hospital about three weeks ago, Davis struggled to share her mother’s optimism. Davis’s mother plays a significant role in her emotional state.
“It helps your optimism when you have company,” Davis said. “It was just me and my mom laughing, making it OK to laugh, not just being solemn about it.”
During those times when Davis goes into depressive slumps, she is able to recover quickly by doing something enjoyable to her, such as reading a book. Seeing Davis fall down and rise up with a smile truly makes her mother happy. And every time she gets back up optimistically, she gives herself hope that one day she will stop experiencing these slumps altogether.
Though not every day is a good day, Davis has the fix: “Do everything, because if you skip out on things you want to do, you’ll regret it. Even if it’s a mild interest, just go.”