The Comfort Zone

Today I realized that I've always lived in my own little comfort zone, pretty much a bubble of sorts. I like to stick to the familiar, the predictable, the expected. My first lesson I learned while living in this city is this: comfort zones really don't get you far. When was the last time you heard someone successful say that the key to success is sticking to the status quo? Never.

I'm also a person that doesn't handle change well. Lesson #2: Change is good for people. My favorite experiences in life involved huge changes.

1. Joining a sorority: If someone asked me 4 years ago to join a sorority, I would have laughed in their face. I was so anti-Greek my freshman year of college it's not even funny. I didn't even step foot on 1st street AKA Greek Row until I joined Greek Life. I'm about as far from the average sorority stereotype that you can get. BUT my first year of college sucked and I was ready for a change. I joined ADPi, had the best 3 years of my life, and never looked back.

2. Lobbying: I applied for a student lobbying trip on a whim because I wanted to see Washington DC. At the time, lobbying seemed interesting but a ton of work. I had the mindset that the big-wigs in Washington could really care less about some student housing bill and that we would be treated like "kids" and laughed out of the office. I couldn't have been more wrong. This trip was actually a defining moment for me. I learned to my surprise that I was pretty good at the whole lobbying thing. I loved every minute of the experience so much that it changed my whole entire future career plans. Change.

3. This whole summer: The fact that I'm spending the entire summer away from home, my family, and friends is a HUGE deal for me. I hate being alone. The opportunity to spend ten weeks in my dream city outweighed the fear. The experience I had in #2 also helped me to make the decision. I'm sitting out on my balcony right now and I swear to God I just saw Marine One (the President's helicopter) just fly by. Absolute craziness! I still struggle with change and the unfamiliar but I keep telling myself all the awesome stuff that has happened so far when I've embraced it.

Such a deep post I know. If you don't want to hear my random ramblings this summer, don't read. Negative Nancys are downers! To everyone else, I love and miss you all!

Here are a few of my favorite pics: