I’m a person who loves all things familiar. Familiar foods, familiar places, familiar people and familiar routines. Anything outside the realm of my comfort zone often gives me great amounts of anxiety, due to the fact that I tend to lose some control in these situations.
It takes a lot of courage to leave your comfort zone and I never thought I had the courage within me to do so. What I didn’t expect was that so many opportunities would open up once I left my comfort zone.
It wasn’t until after high school that I really started to step outside my comfort zone. My first two years of college were spent at a community college. I started to explore my interests in writing and journalism there. I joined the school newspaper because I loved to write. It gave me the opportunity to put myself out there and let my voice be heard through writing. Being a news reporter meant I had to overcome my anxieties of speaking to figures of authority and being judged by my peers. It was a major step in my journey of familiarizing myself with the unfamiliar.
I also started working at a corporate retail store while in college. For someone who barely left their house and hated confrontation of any kind, this type of job sounded like a nightmare to me. However, I was able to improve my communication skills as a sales associate and cashier. I found that my anxiety of talking to others and being confronted by people diminished once I started working in retail.
When deciding which university to transfer to after my first two years of college, I was undoubtedly fearful of attending UC Berkeley. Not only is the university hundreds of miles away from my hometown, its academic reputation and high standing was intimidating. I thought I was unfit to attend UC Berkeley and believed I would not thrive here. Now, I am grateful that I did not let fear hold me back and prevent me from attending a university where I am growing as a student and as a person each day.
If I had not taken these three opportunities, I believe I would have missed out on so many chances to further my education and improve my communication skills. Facing the unfamiliar taught me that there are so many experiences and opportunities to explore that lie outside of my comfort zone.