All my life I’ve prided myself on being the best, specifically with grades. I would do whatever it took to get the highest grade I could and I was absolutely terrified of failing.

I thought that if I failed at something I did, whether it was school, band, sports, that that meant I was a failure, not just at that activity, but as a person. So, I put everything I had into being the best, and, in high school that was enough. I could make in high school and be the best, but college was a different story.

College is bigger, harder, and scarier than high school, and I wasn’t at the top anymore. I learned that there would be times I wasn’t the best or that I failed at something and that was really hard for me at first.

As time went by, though, I realized that there was more to life than being perfect or number one. It didn’t matter if I had perfect grades or got everything right the first time. What mattered was whether or not I tried my best.

I started to see that I was living my life in fear of failing. I would spend my time killing myself studying for hours upon hours because I thought that’s what I needed to do to be the best. I missed opportunities because I was afraid that I wouldn’t be good at things.

I stayed stuck in what I had always known and always done, in a never-ending cycle of trying to climb my way to the top without ever stopping to take in the view or move to the next rung.

But now I know that there is so much more to life than trying to be the best and if I learned anything from my first year in college it's that fear shouldn't keep people from doing what they want.

If you want to travel grab a map and start planning. If you want to be an author grab some paper and start writing. If you want to be an artist grab a pencil and start drawing. It doesn't matter if you're the best at what you're doing. If you're passionate about something don't let anything stop you from being happy, especially fear.

People are going to talk about you and try to tell you that you can't do something, but that will happen even if you're doing something that makes you miserable. So stop worrying about the 'what if' and 'I'm not good enough.' Stop being afraid of possibility and change and do something you're afraid. No one ever started something amazing by staying in their comfort zone.