In high school, college is pushed so hard. It could have been pushed by teachers, your family, your school, or your peers. When you don't know what you want to do with your life, you just want the people to be quiet but they won't be. Going to college will be pushed whether you want to go or not, even though there are still so many jobs that do not require a degree.
Throughout my high school career, I had several ideas of what I wanted to do but when the time came to make a decision, all I knew was that I did not want to go to college yet. So, I made the decision to not go. There was a lot of backlash from my family and people saying that I was making a big mistake by not going to college. They didn't understand. They thought since I made that decision that I was not going to school at all, which was not the case. I had a plan of going to school but the plan was on my terms and nobody else's. I wanted to know for sure what I wanted to major in and where I wanted to go before I would pay thousands of dollars.
During my gap year, I worked forty hours a week at a fast-food restaurant and continued to live at home with my parents. When I worked at the restaurant, I had goals and I achieved most of them but things started to change. I realized that I did not want to work at that job forever. I became very unhappy. Dealing with customers and coworkers that simply did not take pride in their job got very frustrating. I was over it. During that time, I would do the hour and a half drive to Ohio University every other weekend to visit my boyfriend and watch the football games to get away. That is when I fell in love with Ohio University. The culture and natural beauty of the campus was and still is breathtaking. When I was there so often after never stepping foot on the campus, my goals started to change. I wanted to be more and do more for the world. Speak and write about things that are relevant and need to be talked about. I soon realized that I found the university I wanted to go to and started researching majors that correspond with what I wanted to do and achieve. I found Communications. With communications, I would be able to write and do what I love. It was a perfect fit, so I applied to Ohio University.
After Christmas, my boyfriend moved home to do his second semester at a regional campus and moved in with my family. We started saving up for an apartment, which was very difficult without a doubt. A few months later, we moved into an apartment in our hometown, adopted two cats, and made a home of our own. During the stressful time of moving and getting settled, I received my acceptance letter... Since I took the gap year and my ACT scores were three years old, I did not get accepted to live on the main campus, but I was able to enroll at a regional campus. I was bummed but I knew being at a regional campus would be better because I would be able to still live in my apartment, keep my cats, and continue to work.
It is now October, week 11 of my first semester, and I love college. I am enrolled full time and involved in multiple organizations. I am so excited for the future and to work in a field that I love. I am learning how to public speak and write multiple articles a week. I know this is what I love and want to do with my life because I do not dread it.
I advise you to take a gap year if you do not know what you want to major in or what school you want to go to. You will be able to save so much money and stress by just waiting to see where life takes you. Do not force yourself to do something you are not ready or sure you even want do.
