Growing up as a kid who had her daddy right by her side through thick and thin no matter what made it more difficult to grow up and become independent. I have the kind of father that would always make me look back at him and get the “it is okay” look before proceeding with anything and everything I wanted to do. I am not saying that having that kind of father is a bad thing when you are young, but it is important to branch out after a certain amount of time. Being the eldest girl in my family, I know that my dad is just trying to protect me and prepare me for the real world. I know he is concerned about me as well as what the future holds for me, but he also wants the best for me. I was very fortunate to have such a concerned and involved father in my life, but I cannot tell you how important it is to branch out on your own and do things you never thought you would do without your father by your side telling you how to accomplish something every step of the way. That is why I am going outside of my conform zone and trying as well as experiencing things I thought I would never do without my dad is only making me a better and stronger individual.

Whether it be attending college out of state and moving out of your childhood neighborhood, traveling outside of the country on your own, or simply having the opportunity of providing for yourself; which means paying all your own bills and so forth, you are making an effort to be independent. It is all about taking baby steps in order to really get yourself out of your comfort zone and realize that it is not all that bad when being independent.

My first true step on becoming independent and really pushing myself to go out of my comfort zone was when I decided to go out of state for college. I left my family in the state of my childhood home with all the memories of the past 19 years of my life. I moved to another state to attend school on my own and basically started a whole new life. My family was nowhere near me, except a phone call away. Of course I was nothing but nervous and scared to be on my own, but by pushing and telling myself that this is only something that can benefit me, I was able to survive not one, but now two full years of college.

As frightened as I was to accept a trip of a lifetime that involved going out of the country on my own, I pushed myself to do it. I went to Israel for ten whole days, including two days of traveling, all on my own with about 40 other kids around the same age as me. I went on a trip without my father. Now, I never thought that would happen within my lifetime! My dad was always the “tour guide” when it came to traveling with my family. Everything was his way or nowhere and believe it or not, he had somewhat of the same amount of knowledge about everything as a tour guide would! Going to another country where they speak a different language, use a different form of money, and have a full day of actives to do with no time for a nap was very stressful and hard to adjust to. However, I kept telling myself that everything would be okay and this is a trip of a lifetime that I would of regretted if I did in fact turn it down.

When it comes to growing up, it is all about gaining responsibility as well. Sure, living with your family and still having your parents support you is very nice, but there comes a time where you have to begin to support yourself. By simply paying your own bills, purchasing your own items, or paying for meals with your own money that you work for and make is something influential. You learn all about the real world and get a better understanding of how hard it is for your father to support your family. Pushing yourself to get a job and work somewhere that you wither dreamt about or just got a job to be able to pay for yourself is still pushing yourself outside your comfort zones! Working and making your OWN money to spoil yourself is something that leads to a whole other step of independence. You are basically an adult and soon you will begin to have to support your own family!

No matter what you do in life alone, you can always push yourself out of your comfort zone and try new things! It can only help you in life as well as make you a stronger and more independent person! It is so important to experience new things and really push yourself to do things you thought you would never do. It opens all kinds of different doors for new opportunities as well as your eyes to the real world! Really push yourself out of your comfort zone when it comes to new experience and opportunities and just DO IT.