So I've been in school ever since my mom took me to my first day of pre-school. I've been on a yearly rotation of waking up in the morning, spending seven hours in a building under fluorescent lights, and go home to do more work for X amount of hours. We're on a continuous hamster wheel until we go to college where we get on another wheel that's bigger and faster. Then we're expected to go straight into the workforce or go do more school. We exhaust ourselves so much that we don't realize we need to pause and take a break.

I decided at the end of my junior year that I would take a year off after I graduate. I have a plan for myself to work and earn money from my job that I'll be doing full-time. I will have graduated with a bachelor's in Biology and since I want to go into medicine, I want to be able to do internships and shadowing to build my portfolio. I thought long and hard about if I should do this because I felt like I had to keep up with my classmates. I was taught "comparing yourself to others" at a young age and it followed me into adulthood. But now at twenty-two and a senior, I've learned that it's only making me hate myself.

Taking the time to find or build yourself isn't a bad thing and that can result in you growing in so many ways. If you have a plan of what you want to do then you'll be okay. We all have our own paths and shouldn't have to keep up with everyone else. Your time is coming and it will be great. For now, just live your life like it's golden honey.