On November 6th, one of my roommates was supposed to go on a blind date with a roommate of one of our guy friends. My roommate got ill and asked if I would go in her stead. I didn’t have anything better to do that Friday, so I agreed.

I like to think of myself as a semi-outdoorsy person. I love camping [I always wished Girls Camp was more rugged than it was], hiking [though I’m super out of shape and end up wheezing most of the time], and I’m usually willing to try new things. Except for skiing. I learned over the Thanksgiving break that skiing is not my thing and I’m never doing it again. I still get embarrassed just thinking about that catastrophe.

Anyway, the sad truth is that I’m not as outdoorsy as I’d like to be. One of the reasons I agreed to go on this date was because it was at Badger Creek. Badger Creek, a 45 minute drive from Rexburg, is a ranch owned by BYU-I. AFY takes place at Badger Creek during the summer months and there are a ton of activities students can participate in during the school year.

Our activity was rock climbing.

I’ve been rock climbing before. And let me tell you – IT TERRIFIES ME. I wrote that in all caps for a reason. NOTHING horrifies me more [except spiders] than having to scale a wall with tiny handholds, strapped into a dinky harness where I have to rely on my partner to make sure I don’t fall.

On top of my fear, this was in early November. In Idaho. With snow on the ground. It wasn’t quite as cold as it is now, but there was a bite in the air. Oh yeah, and it was getting dark. Because it was pretty much winter.

This isn’t the greatest picture, but that’s what I had to climb – that wooden thing in the distance. When we got to the top we ziplined down – and I love ziplining! The climbing wouldn’t have been bad – except we had to climb a ladder to get to the bottom of the board. I kid you not.

I volunteered to go first because I wanted to get the climbing over with. And there was a point where I said I couldn’t make it and I’d probably have to come down. I was clinging to the handholds, my arms aching, my fingers slowly freezing, and the setting sun painting the sky a navy blue.

The guy next to me got up in hardly any time at all. It took me near 20 minutes to climb that wall.

Before we even began climbing, the student employees told us the history of Badger Creek and how it’s really an extension of campus. We were going to have to push ourselves to stretch. They told us that if we would let ourselves, we’d learn a lot of things at Badger Creek and would be able to feel the Spirit.

I’m not gonna lie, I thought that was super cheesy and I inwardly thought, “Yeah, sure. Whatever.”

Until I was clinging to that wall, convinced I was going to die.

I learned a lot of things about myself and why I don’t enjoy rock climbing as much as I should. I don’t like the fact I’m not 100% in control. I don’t like that I’m not protected. I don’t like that I have to trust someone else with my life. I don’t like that I’m so fearful.

But those weren’t the biggest lesson I learned.

As I remained there, clinging to the wall, people on the ground were yelling, “Come on Kim, you can do it! You got this!” These were people I had barely known for an hour, and they were cheering me on. They were encouraging me.

Then there was the worker at the top of the wooden structure. He asked me, “How’re you doing?” I responded that I wasn’t fine and I had no idea what to do. He told me, “If you can get yourself halfway up, I’ll guide you the rest of the way.”

Cautiously, I began making my way up the wall a little bit more, forcing myself to not look at the ground or to the side. I couldn’t bear to see how high up I was. With every little step, someone would yell, “You got this!” or “Woo-hoo!” or “There’s a handhold to your left/right.”

I got to the halfway point – or so I thought – and immediately yelled out, “Okay, I need help now!” The guy at the top said, “Wow, you’re more than halfway up! You’re doing great!”

And then he guided me. I thought he was going to be so annoyed and upset with me, but there are few times in my life that I’ve heard someone talk with such patience. He kept encouraging me to reach a little farther, to climb up and then extend my arms. He kept leading me to the best handholds. A few times I had to sit back in the harness and rub my hands together because it was so freezing cold and my fingers felt like Popsicles. But he never wavered in his directions, and he always kept saying, “Good job! There you go. That’s great!” He never got upset at me [or at least, he never showed it if he was], even when I had to reposition myself or take a step back down because of my fear.

I honestly didn’t think I was going to make it. But doggone it, I wanted to go down the zipline. So I kept pushing. I kept grabbing and climbing and trying to ignore the cold. And still people kept saying, “Way to go, Kim! Come on, Kim!”

Making it over the top of that structure was the most relieving thing of my life. My legs were shaking, my heart was pounding, but I did it. When I thanked the employee at the top, all he said was, “That was all you.”

Ziplining was great – I LOVED feeling that air on my face. It was like flying. Climbing down to the ground on a ladder wasn’t fun, but I pretend that didn’t happen.

The greatest lesson I learned wasn’t that I can overcome fears – as exhilarating and rewarding as that feeling was.

The lesson I learned was how much we need people.

I’m not gonna lie – the biggest thing that propelled me to finish that wall was the encouragement from others. The zipline was awesome and a fantastic treat, but it didn’t compare to people I hardly knew rooting for me and cheering me on and having someone guide me. Seriously, I had never seen these people before in my life, and yet I found myself believing in their words and feeling inspired. I started thinking, “Maybe I can do this!”

The majority of my life I’ve shied away from people. I’ve kept them at arms length, hardly letting anyone else get close. Growing up, I only had a few extremely close friends. I’ve felt lonely the majority of my life hiding in my little shell.

After returning home from my mission, however, I started learning the importance of opening up. This calling as Relief Society president has really opened up my eyes and heart to the joy that comes from caring about others. There’s nothing I love more than seeing my girls on campus and saying hi and asking how their day is. I loved stopping by their apartments to talk to them. I loved teaching them. I loved seeing them smile and I became so concerned if I ever saw some of my girls looked sad or upset. Reaching out to others – even just stopping on campus to ask if someone needs help – brings a comforting sense of satisfaction and joy.

I’ve even opened myself up to others. I’m not best friends with everyone, but this past semester I’ve opened up to my roommates more than ever and it’s been such a treat! I’ve let other people help and serve me – even when it was hard. I’ve learned that being kind to those around you brings you so much more happiness than closing off your heart.

We need each other. We need people. As much as I revel in being an introvert, I could never live alone and isolated. Human interaction has helped me grow and change – hopefully for the better.