Before college, I would have never imagined myself doing the things I am. For those that know me, I hide in my shell. I surround myself with the same people constantly. I never speak in front of people, even if it's a room of my closest friends or family. And I never go out of my way to be heard. My freshman year of college was hard, as I was not involved and I had friends but I typically was with the same three people every day. I'm a very comfort zone, keep to yourself type of person.

Little did I know, that I was hurting my college experience by being like this. My grades were suffering. And I was not as in love with my college as I once was. I constantly found myself homesick, or bored. Many times I was unmotivated to do my school work. As everyone is, but I knew I could do better than I was doing. Going into my second year of college, I was dreading it. I didn't know if it was my friends, my job, my major, or what it could be that was making me so uncomfortable with going back to school.

This past year I have been determined to do better. I've pushed myself to do basically all of those things that I named I could never. And I've found myself having such a better college experience. College is about making connections and preparing yourself for the real world. Preparing yourself to work with colleagues one day, and stand out on a resume. And pushing myself out of my comfort zone has me doing just that.

Every day you push yourself to do something you normally wouldn't, you see more positive effects than negative. You'll make new connections. And you will be able to build that resume. Doing things like public speaking, and joining organizations do make for a great resource. They'll eventually shape you into a better version of yourself. You'll become a better candidate to internships and potential jobs. Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone will give you so many more opportunities than before, and you'll feel so good of your accomplishments.

When you push yourself to do things you normally wouldn't, you begin to see yourself become a better person. You see yourself making differences, and having fun while doing it. There are so many things you don't even know you're capable of until you do it. Before, I constantly used the excuse that I am afraid of public speaking, and now I speak in front of a room of 80 women every week. I've found myself making new friends constantly, just from pushing myself to be more involved. Every day, doing the things I know I once said I couldn't have made me more proud of the person I am. I could not stress more, that trying new things in college can enhance your college experience to the max.