Written by: Sydney Schildt, VP of Development
Imagine, traveling in a bubble. This bubble is comfortable and safe. You can see everything: flowers, trees, butterflies, and even those people you wish you could be. This bubble represents your comfort zone. Your comfort zone isn’t as exciting as you hoped it would be, is it? Within your bubble, you can’t touch or smell any of the flowers. The butterfly’s wings seem dull in color. It feels like you are stuck in midair and can’t get down. This is how I felt my first two years of high school.
Freshman year, I developed my bubble. I hung out with my close circle of friends, ate with the same group of people at lunch, and joined the same activities everyone else did. Life was good in my cozy bubble, then came sophomore year. During my sophomore year, I began to realize that my bubble was standing still. I wasn’t seeing anything new and I didn’t feel any different. I was going through the motions. I had thoughts of changing my environment, but that meant I had to get out of my bubble. Who would ever want to escape something so secure, so I stayed.
The start of junior year I knew I needed something new. I needed to get out of my safe and cozy bubble. When I began to slowly step out of my bubble, I was greeted with so many new opportunities that I didn’t even think existed. Granted I experienced some failures but I realized that experiencing them in high school and learning how to handle them was going to be way easier than learning how to handle them once I graduate. During my junior year, I did something I didn’t think I could ever do, I ran for state office. Through this experience, it exposed me to one of my greatest fears, public speaking. Coming out of your comfort zone doesn’t necessarily mean overcoming your greatest fear, it can simply be doing something you have never done before.
The bubble which we call our comfort zone resembles that of a caterpillar’s cocoon. Both block what we were truly made to be. So I encourage you to pop your bubble and start chasing your butterflies, whatever they may be.