When I mention "being alone" your mind probably thinks of something completely different than the person next to you and that's okay. Here are some significant moments of being alone that have had a major impact on my life that may be relatable to a lot of people at any age.

Within the first couple weeks of my college career, I had realized that I had both dropped the people that weren't any good for me and had lost the others to out of state universities. I was lost in a sea of unfamiliar faces and a schedule that has never felt more optional. I would take the train in for class and shortly after class, I would be on my way home. During these days that seemed to just melt together, I caught myself crying in the bathroom. I've never felt so alone, I had no one to even talk to. The moment went by fast and it served as one of the larger wake-up calls I've had. I immediately wiped my tears and ran out of there. I started extending my stay in college during the day and asking more classmates about their school year and whether they commuted or not. This made me very comfortable in a place I was expected to be every day. The sea became an averagely sized wave and it was nothing I haven't seen before. This simplified version of what happened to me 2 years ago served as a key to the door that needed to be open. It showed me that you have to confront new situations, like a new school, new job or trip, with an open mind. Think of every chance and risk taken as a win... because when you fight your own battles and lose, you get stronger and smarter for the next fight. When you fight your own battles and win, all you want to do after that is win.

Now, have you ever felt as though you were lacking that huge group of friends everyone around you seems to have or maybe it was the lack of a significant other in your life that borderline made you feel as though you were going to die alone? A hard part of feeling this way is admitting you are feeling this way because it challenges your comfort zone and it's something you can't run away from. The scariest part of feeling physically alone is that the only person that is always there to listen to you is yourself, which allows for self-reflection and even possibly self-doubt. Now you're thinking, this really is the worst feeling in the world. You may feel as though it's your own fault you're alone because you don't necessarily have anyone else to blame. At this point, you're more upset that you started and you feel stuck. But what did I say about being open-minded before? This is your chance to learn everything there is to know about yourself. 'Cause let's be real, you have to spend the rest of your life with yourself so you might as well. What makes you smile, or get nervous, do you like reading with background noise? How would you react in this situation, does the sound of your fan put you to sleep? What's the first quality you notice in someone of the opposite sex.. or the same sex and why does it stand out? What do you consider therapy... is it shopping or binging the new season of Stranger Things?

After learning more about yourself and the way you think or feel on a day to day basis will help you strengthen the bond you create with others. You will be a reflection of your values and habits and in turn, will attract a crowd of those attributes that you admire if not relate to. Most importantly, you're in tune with your comfort zone and you know how to jump out of it. These obstacles are only there for you to grow because at the end of the day it's a race you're running alone and you should take the time to learn to work with yourself.