We all have a comfort zone. A safe zone. A zone we hardly ever want to leave, so we don't.

We shelter ourselves in this zone because we are scared to go beyond it's boundaries. We are scared to see what is out there waiting for us.

Throughout high school I barricaded myself in my comfort zone. I was terrified of stepping out of it. Terrified of talking to people I didn't know. Even terrified of ordering my own food at restaurants.

Trapped in this zone, I did not get very far. I held myself back from growing into my own person while everyone around me thrived and prospered.

It wasn't until this year, my first year of college, that I realized sheltering myself in my comfort zone would not get me very far.

Sheltering myself will not give me the skills I need in order to go out and face the world on my own.

I have recently started pushing myself to step out of my zone, to explore the things around me. Without having someone constantly watching over my shoulder telling me which way is right and which is wrong.

From these pushes I have realized that the further I roam from my comfort zone, the more uncomfortable I may feel, but the more I find myself. The further I push myself the more I begin to understand who I am.

A few months ago I was an extremely shy girl. I was the girl that always hid from strangers, the one who was scared of staring conversations, meeting new people, and terrified of leaving what I had known best, my comfort zone.

With just a few steps and some pushes I have explored around my zone. I have pushed myself to grow. I have expanded my comfort zone.

Over the past few months I have become less terrified of starting new conversations, meeting new people, and I have become much more confident in myself, all because I decided to keep pushing myself further from my zone.

From taking a few steps out of my comfort zone, I quickly realized that sometimes I can fail at things. But I have also realized that failing is a part of learning. We have to learn from the mistakes we make and keep pushing ourselves to see what is out there, in this big world.

So for those of you that barricade yourselves in your comfort zone, I urge you to take a step out every once in awhile and explore the world around you, the people, everything you are missing out on. It's out there waiting for you.