Sometimes breaking out of your comfort zone is, well, uncomfortable, but it’s more than worthwhile.

Why am I bringing this up? I honestly only thought of it over these past two days. That’s because I was attending Springboard at SIUE, which is a two-day freshman orientation. There were a few points during the sessions where we sat and listened to what upperclassman and staff had to say where they gave us the invaluable advice of “Don’t be afraid to come out of your comfort zone!”

It seems a cliche, but it’s a good and true one. It’s always good to break out of your bubble and go out and expand your horizons. It helps you to become more well-rounded and meet genuinely cool people you never would have otherwise had the chance to meet.

I’ve gone out of my comfort zone before, but not always for the right reasons. Some examples: I joined marching band primarily so I could spend more time with my best friend in fifth grade, I joined basketball out of spite in sixth grade (long story), etc.

In contrast, I have made other accomplishments through absolute hard work, utter determination, and sheer dumb luck that were mostly motivated by my own drive to do them. For example, starting the Quidditch club at my former high school (even if it did only last two years or so), joining the winter drumline in my sophomore year by taking drum lessons that summer on and working really hard to relearn, and further develop and refine my skills at playing various percussive instruments. Likewise, I rather randomly decided to join choir in middle school, and it led to fun experiences in both eighth grade and throughout high school.

This year, I plan to join some sports at my school (hopefully), like skydiving and Quidditch. I don’t think you understand how out of my comfort zone this is. I’m so out of shape that I’ve already passed out at my college campus just from walking around. I get winded walking from one building to the next. I’m very out of shape, but I think if I work hard enough I can get back into good enough shape to participate in these activities. It won’t be easy, especially to balance it with my five-day-a-week course schedule and (hopefully) a work study job, but I think I’ll meet people I wouldn’t have met otherwise and cultivate close friendships through that. Not to mention, these activities truly sound like absolutely fun pastimes to get involved with and even if I may not be the best at them, I’ll work hard, and that’s all that matters.

Even if I end up not having the time for any of these sports, I still plan to break out of my typical shell this year. I say “typical” shell regardless of the strange phrasing of words because I am already rather extroverted, myself. Regardless of my already naturally outgoing personality, I still like to push my limits even further and see just how far I can go. I much prefer to live by the Norman Vincent Peale quote, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.”