Over the course of the past 10 weeks of having been at Mason, I feel like I have learned more about myself than I did all of high school. Through choosing to attend GMU I chose to do something completely out of my comfort zone and as a result, I’ve learned to push myself to learn both about myself and others in ways I realized I had really never done before. The best way to learn is to challenge yourself and to take risks. When we forget to challenge ourselves we tend to get trapped in repetition and what feels comfortable and not only do we lose sight of progress and can often get extremely complacent. Challenging yourself to be out of your comfort zone is a great way to view life through the perspectives of others and to confront yourself with questions of who you are, who you want to be and why.
Being willing to take risks is a challenge within itself. I feel that most people have this preconceived notion that our leaders today are leaders because they worked to produce this image that they have it all together when in reality it’s the opposite. The point is this, while comfort does provide stability, by taking risks you challenge yourself to go beyond your pre conceived notions and to experience life whole heartedly.
The strongest advocates of social change throughout history all share a commonality of being willing to go beyond the social norms to advocate what they truly believed in. In this same way, this should serve as a challenge to each of us to step out and to not only discover ourselves but what we believe in and to pursue it wholeheartedly.
November 4th, 2012 at 2:33 pm
Being at GMU, I feel like I’ve had many opportunities to go out of my comfort zone and try new things. However, I also feel that I’ve neglected to embrace those opportunities. In itself, attending Mason was inside of my comfort zone: my family and boyfriend live 45 minutes away, and I’ve lived in NoVA my whole life, so I’m familiar with the DMV. But you bring up an important point, Cameron. I think I’ll now put more effort into going outside my comfort zone, and exploring what this world has got to offer!!
November 7th, 2012 at 9:44 pm
I like your title! I think that this is a great point that we learn as we get older ). It’s more interesting to have a wide range of friends – you get more perspective and understading on how other people see the world, and this is important as a leader since you must constantly work alongside others.
November 14th, 2012 at 2:40 pm
Just remember that in reality your life has already started, and there’s no turning back on the past to redo mistakes or starting from scratch.
Everything you built up is with you today. So keep building.
November 14th, 2012 at 3:21 pm
This is so true! Social change usually goes against what society has become comfortable with, and making a positive change for those that the system does not favor. Take a look at women in education, the educational system inherently favors males and teaches women from an early age that they are not in par with men. Though it is not explicitly taught, patriarchal thought and reinforcement from society teaches girls to think themselves below men. Many men are unwilling to accept that, out of fear of being scrutinized and attacked from other men, and out of coming out of their comfort zone enough to accept they have privileges they have not earned.
March 30th, 2013 at 2:42 am
Exactly! The problem of the peploe here nowadays is ‘sticking with “comfort zone”‘! Actually, it is not only the problem of the children (including teenagers), but also of nearly everybody. Otherwise, WHY do the peploe spend (waste? :-P) so much time, money and effort for all sorts of certs, dips and qualifications? And WHY shall employers ONLY want (or only choose) applicants with ‘RELEVANT qualifications’??? THAT is a MAJOR PROBLEM of this society!!!