I graduated high school in June 2016 and was set to attend the University of Alabama that August. However, I never made it there. Instead, my life took a different turn, one I never really considered. From the minute you start elementary school, I think you understand that after that comes middle school and then high school and then college. At least that was how I assumed my life would proceed. It wasn't until the summer before I would begin my freshman year of college did I deviate from that unwritten plan.

Instead of moving into my dorm room at the University of Alabama, I stayed right where I was in Virginia.

I wasn't ditching the University of Alabama forever, just for a year. Although gap years are common and I definitely wasn't the only person that had ever taken one, I still felt like I had failed somewhere. Every one of my friends had left for their respective colleges and I was still at home but now I was alone. I felt like a disappointment to my family and friends for not being able to do something I saw as a basic step in life. Now, I know that wasn't true at all but it wasn't until I was through my first month at the University of Alabama, August 2017, that I realized that taking a gap year was one of the best decisions of my entire life.

All I can think about is how different my life would be if I had sucked it up and went to college the year I was supposed to. Honestly, I don't think I would have succeeded. I may have ended up dropping out anyway. I wasn't mentally or emotionally ready to take on everything that college would have thrown at me and subconsciously, I knew that. Taking that extra year off made a world of difference.

During my gap year, I decided to get a job to pass the time. I began working as a hostess at a local brewery. This was my first real job and I was able to gain experience working in a high-stress environment as well as learning responsibility. I also used the year to relax. I needed that time to slow down and learn how to live day by day. I believe that working on my mental and emotional state by making sure I was completely content and stable before leaving my family and friends 12 hours behind really made all of the difference this year.

My freshman year of college is coming to an end and I am truly amazed and thankful for everything that has happened this year. If I hadn't taken the year before off, I never would have had many of the experiences and memories I do now. I would never have met my best friend, my sorority sisters, or my boyfriend. And even if I had, I don't believe it would have worked out the same way it has now.

The point of this article is to let people who think they might need an extra year off before coming to college know that it is okay to do that. It does not mean you're weak and it does not mean you're a failure. In fact, doing so might make you stronger and even more successful when you do believe it's time to attend college. That's how it has gone for me. I wish I had someone to tell me before that everything was going to be alright but it feels nice to have found it out for myself. Make the right decision for you, you won't regret it in the end.