We are placed in a system. We go to school to get good grades, to go to a good college, to get a good job, to fall in love, to get a better job, to support our family and put our kids through the exact same thing we just did so they can do the same thing for their kids and so on and so forth. Finally, we reach the good old age of retirement and then, at last, we look at ourselves and decide what we actually want to do.

What a joke. A fool’s game run by the ever-present fear of failure. "Education is the key to success!" No, learning is. As I look back on my past four years of college, I have learned and matured by means of my experiences more than I have by time spent in the classroom.

I have learned about community: the importance of grace, the impact of encouragement and forgiveness; the strength that comes in sharing my sadness with others and how to accept defeat with humility. I have learned how to be still, that it is okay to accept help and that everyone hides while praying that someone will seek them.

I have learned little things like: I hate running but I love sports; I love baking, but not enough to open a bakery; my shoe game is socks and Tevas, and as it turns out, I actually do like hugs.

I have learned things about God: He is kind; He is faithful; I can trust Him with my secrets; He won’t move on and forget me; He accepts my honesty; He stays up late and listens to my dreams and He keeps His promises and forgives me when I break mine.

Lastly, I have learned who I am in and because of God: I am joyful, I am hopeful and I am free. I see people for who they are and not what they’ve done, I don’t fear death and I have an intense desire for people to be set free from hopelessness.

All of these things, big and small, matter because I can’t bring glory to God by trying to be someone He never intended me to be. If I really am one-of-a-kind, created with a purpose, then doesn’t it make sense for me to find and fulfill my greatest dreams by looking to the One who made me? Who is He? How did He intend the world? How did He make me to be? I don’t learn these things in a school textbook. I learn them by experiencing life with God and reading His Word.

All of this is to say, don’t take your next step based on what others define as good, wise, or expected. Ask God. Seek Him. Find out what kind of clay He molded you with and let the One who created you lead you on an adventurous path into the depths of your heart’s desires, discovering and fulfilling the very thing you were created to be. Why would you ever want to retire from that? Go. Be you. It's worth it.