By: Abrena Rowe ~Opinions and Editorials Editor~

Change is scary. Trying something new can be even scarier. Combining the two, pushing yourself toward change to try something new can be downright terrifying. Once we’ve settled into a comfortable routine, we become hesitant to step out of our self-assigned role in life.

The four years of traditional college allow some of the greatest changes in your life to occur. You might move to a new city and leave behind the past 18 years of familiarity and comfort you’ve learned to love. You might stay in your hometown but still wish to experience these four years as if you’re in a completely new place. Which, in a sense, you are, because you’ve spent the past 18 years beneath your parents’ roof, but now you’re on your own.

Trying to find the perfect balance of experimenting with new behaviors, thoughts and ideas without holding yourself back or pushing yourself past your limits can be intimidating. You want to be adventurous but still show that you are a responsible and productive member of society who is worthy of the new freedoms you’ve been granted. The moment you think you have everything figured out the ice beneath your feet begins to crack, and you frantically swim to solid ground.

Personally my experience over the past three years of college has been full of change. Some of them have been simple changes, like living with new people, changing my major and making new friends every single year. Or the bigger changes like developing post-traumatic stress disorder, accepting my sexuality and turning for help to deal with toxic thoughts and behaviors.

I do not like surprises, and I’m not a huge fan of unexpected change. I’m a planner, so whenever my plans are derailed, I panic. I have a bad habit of forgetting that there’s no perfectly detailed plan to life. That no matter how much I think I know exactly how life will turn out for me, a wall will pop up out of nowhere, and I have to figure out: “What’s next?”

In my 20 years I’ve faced some pretty major changes. With each change I realize more and more that change is inevitable and more times than not it’s good for me. Whether I see it in the moment or it takes months to figure out, all the changes that have occurred in my life have sculpted me into the person I am and the person I like more every passing day.

Change pushes you out of your comfort zone. It forces you to learn how much you can handle, what you want out of life and what makes you, you. In short, my advice to all my readers is to wholeheartedly accept whatever changes have been or will be thrown your way. Go after whatever it is you’ve been afraid of pursuing. Whatever crossed your mind while you read this article, let nothing stop you from accomplishing it.