Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.”
Even though experience is known as the best teacher in life, it is undeniable that challenge can be difficult for certain people. They prefer to settle for the present than to step forward. The fear of encountering the new world seizes them, blocking the desire to go beyond their own comfort zone.
For me, the first comfort zone that I had to break was my family. I have never been separated from my parents, which made me be afraid of the fact that I had to live alone in Korea for a year.
Ironically, the fear of loneliness made me break off my comfort zone. I engaged in numerous activities during my freshman year, meeting new people and experiencing various moments. True, it never had been easy. As I was a shy, quiet girl in my high school, I had no choice but to totally reform my personality to gain those experiences. Freshman year at Ewha was the turning point in my life.
It was during my sophomore year that I encountered another challenge: going to the United Kingdom (UK) for an overseas reporting. Organizing interviews with distinctive professionals in the UK along with well-known associations and approaching  random strangers in the foreign country were challenging, but all of those hardships and experiences led me to earn values that cannot be put into words.
Although phrases such as “seize the day” teach us to live the present, I think preparing for the future is also important to cherish a better life. Never settle in your comfort zone, for all of us have the greatest potential to go beyond the point.
Hermann Hesse, the author of the novel Demian, demonstrates the context well through his words: “Der Vogel kämpft sich aus dem Ei. Das Ei ist die Welt. Wer geboren werden will, muß eine Welt zerstören.,” which translates into “The bird struggles out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world.”
Just like Hesse’s words, we all should live to be born, by destroying one’s comfort zone. 
저작권자 © Ewha Voice 무단전재 및 재배포 금지