Willow Shields’ ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Blog: Raise Your Hand!

“Hunger Games” star Willow Shields joins AccessHollywood.com as our behind-the-scenes celebrity blogger for Season 20 of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.”

Here is Willow’s latest post…

Raise your hand! 

It’s about the journey. Already I have had time to reflect on my experience on “Dancing with the Stars.” Ironically the show just released a video of Mark and I and our journey. Yes I couldn’t help but cry when watching the time Mark and I met for the first time and the many dances that we created and the hours spent training (mixed with goofing around of course). I think I cried while watching this video not because I didn’t win but because of how much I now value the challenging journey in which I became lifelong friends with people like Mark and realized that anyone can do almost anything if they put their mind to it.

I know everyone in the back of his or her mind would love to win but I kinda think I did win, at least for me.

Take risks. My risk on “Dancing with the Stars” was of course that I could fall on national television and make a complete fool of myself! Could be pretty embarrassing, and it has happened to some people on this show in the past. It’s a real risk made by real people. I do admire the people who HAVE taken a fall while trying to dance on TV, mainly because these people knew from the beginning that they weren’t trained dancers, that the chances of tripping on the ballroom were pretty darn high, but they did it anyway. This takes guts, and people must face the possibility of being embarrassed in life because the reward far outweighs the risks.

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Hard work. You can reduce the chances of falling by putting in a lot of work in whatever it is that you do. It’s pretty rare for someone to become famous overnight, for someone to create a software program that everyone just has to buy, or to have a great relationship with your family. Behind all of these things is hard work, not magic.

Raise your hand. If there is any encouragement I can give to the young people around the world it is to raise your hand. Could you have the wrong answer? Is your question silly? It doesn’t matter, you have to put yourself out there.

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Volunteer, join a club (better yet, start a club!). Maybe people don’t accept you now, but they will. Maybe you haven’t met the people yet that appreciate what you have to offer, but you will find them and they will find you. Guess what? I’m not referring to a classroom, RAISE YOUR HAND IN LIFE.

Yes I am 14. I am an actress. I danced on “Dancing with the Stars.” 

— Willow Shields