While you may love your hometown with the people and memories it brought you, who says you have to set your boundaries there?
The most valuable thing you can give and take in life is perspective, but not just perspective from the snow globe you grew up in. You are going to have to diminish your comfort zone and it's going to suck. You are going to feel lonely and lost at times, but the aspects you learn about yourself and others around you is unmeasurable. Learning in a classroom is very beneficial and can be used as guidelines for your career or general education, but as far as the human experience goes, there is so much to learn that can't be taught in a classroom.
College allowed me to move out of my hometown and meet people from all over the country. I do not regret a single day that I am here. When I was looking for a roommate for my freshman year, I purposely looked for somebody who was from a different state than me. I have now had roommates from Massachusetts, New Jersey, and a best friend from Philadelphia, I have learned different culture from up and down the east coast while introducing them to life south of the Mason-Dixon line.
Comfort Zones are Overrated.
What are you afraid of? Talk to the person sitting next to you in class, listen to conversations while sitting in a public place, go out on a Tuesday night, order something new every time you go out to eat, don't waste your time waiting for the weekend, start living in the moment now. Learn to become aware of your surroundings. As you meet more people and notice characteristics from friends and strangers, be aware that everybody was raised differently. The way you view something is not always going to be the same as everybody else and if you don't agree with how somebody else views a certain thing, don't tell them that they're wrong or belittle their opinion, simply explain why you see it differently.
Stay Curious.
The two words I decided to live by this year. Ask questions. Questions with right or wrong answers, open-ended questions, questions solely based off of somebody's opinions and beliefs. Be aware that there will be questions in life that truly have no answer. Embrace these moments the most. You will hit high's and low's and won't know what to do when certain things arise, so make sure you have a good support system. Whether it's your friends from your hometown, your family or the people you met just last year, let them remind you that you're doing okay.
Life can move a thousand miles a minute, so stop and live in the moment. Do the things that scare you and keep an open mind about everything the world throws at you. Feel everything thoroughly and learn from your own mistakes and others. What are you afraid of?
