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From travel blogs to study abroad promotions, there is perhaps no trope quite so tired as the proverbial small-town girl taking on the big city and emerging anew. This was among the thoughts rattling through my head as I sat quietly in the passenger seat of my sister's car, heading to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in the summer of 2017. Ironically enough, however, there is a reason tropes become tropes: they can be staggeringly apt. Growing up in a rural community in southern Indiana, the vast majority of people I knew had never left the country. They didn't have passports. Many had never been on a plane. All of this was true of me until the summer I decided to study abroad in Ireland. Every day in the months leading up to my departure, I considered canceling the trip. Since elementary school, I had struggled with a severe anxiety disorder that made many seemingly common activities difficult. For much of my life, simply sleeping over at a friend's house was impossible. Now, at age 19, international travel was the obstacle I had boldly (and, I thought, perhaps unwisely) decided to take on. As sufferers of anxiety are prone to do before embarking on an adventure, I boarded my flight fully reconciled with what would seemingly be the inevitable end of my life. Luckily for myself, however, I was wrong in every way about what awaited me. Ireland is an enchanting and welcoming country that is ideal for a first-time traveler from the United States. I could write entire books about my first impressions of airports, of Europe, of the subtle cultural differences that widen the eyes of every young person brave enough to travel to new lands on their own. While there, I achieved an inner calmness that made clear to me that whatever I chose to do with my life, it must include spending as much time as possible in new and beautiful places. Most rewardingly, I found a version of myself during my first international trip that is, even now, the version of myself I strive each day to be. In my experience, anxiety sufferers live within a carefully constructed bubble. All activities within that sphere of comfort are acceptable and safe. All activities beyond it are insurmountable. After traveling to Ireland, I realized that the great battle of my life will be to expand that bubble so that it includes more experiences, locations and activities that will both enhance my life and terrify me in equal measure. As I sat staring at my suitcase on my last day in Ireland, I could feel my heart pushing against my ribcage. At the time, I swore I could hear it creaking, perhaps preparing to break off a small piece that would be left there in a country that unexpectedly became so central to me. I was truly afraid to return to the stationary life I lived and feared that my first trip abroad could, due to financial constraints and other factors, be my last. This fear, I found, far surpassed the paralyzing apprehension I felt when I sat 3,700 miles away at the beginning of the summer, starting at that same suitcase. My terror, luckily, was misplaced. In the end, I was again proved wrong, and for a person like me, being wrong is the greatest kind of serendipity. Since that summer, I have traveled to Prague, Copenhagen, Budapest, Berlin, Venice and also to new locations within the United States. The bubble of acceptable activities within my mind has only widened. As a result, my life and self have improved insurmountably, a shift that would never have taken place had that first leap that not made it possible. The country girl embarking on life-altering study abroad trip is a cliche, I understand. But it is also one of the most beautiful cliches there is. For me, it was a starting point in a journey to myself spanning continents; one that I am proud to say is still ongoing.