I am a STEM major. The second people hear this they immediately classify me as the stereotypical STEM major that studies too much, sleeps too little and would be willing to sell an organ to get an A in a class. Sure, I might study more than the average Joe, and you'd better believe I wish there were more hours in the day to make time for sleep. But I am NOT the average STEM major.

I don't suck up to my professors and I am fine with getting less than an A in a class that I really struggle in. I also have a passion for music, indie films, and sandalwood scented candles. And since I differ from the average STEM major in a number of ways, I often don't tell people about a dream that I've had for years.

While I still have every intention of being successful in school and reaching my career goals, I also have a secret dream of taking a year to go on what could be classified as "a bender." No, I don't want to completely go off the grid, or find myself getting blackout drunk every night.

But I want to go on a bender in the sense that I would be doing something that is completely out of the ordinary for me and is not a stepping stone towards any of my future goals.

My dream for the longest time has been to move into a slightly run-down apartment in the middle of a big city. I want to work in a coffee shop and get to know the regulars. I want to fall in love with someone completely out of my league and slow dance in the kitchen at 2 a.m. on a Monday. I want to spend time getting to know myself again.

I think we all find ourselves working too hard and subsequently losing pieces of ourselves sometimes, so I want to take the time to find those pieces of myself that I've lost along the way.

Science fascinates me and I genuinely love learning it, but that doesn't mean it has been easy. Trying to memorize all of the structures in the brain while working two jobs and attempting to maintain your mental health is not easy. And it hasn't been easy for me. As much as I love my university and the city I live in, I think a change of scenery could do wonders.

There's something about being in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people that is terrifying but invigorating at the same time. Because at that point, you have to decide how you're going to present yourself. You are no longer tied to where you went to college, what your major is or what grades you got. Nobody knows about your past successes just as they don't know about your past failures or emotional baggage.

You're just you. You get to decide how people see you and who you're going to let in, and nobody is there to try to tell you what's best for you. That's what I want.

So yes, I'm a STEM major hoping to attend medical school one day. But there also may be a year or two somewhere along the way where I'm just the barista who gives you a free coffee when it looks like you've had a bad day or a bartender in one of those underground bars that reminds you a little too much of your parent's basement. And that's OK.

If going on a bit of a bender helps you stay in touch with yourself, maybe we all deserve to go on a bit of bender sometimes.