We are told throughout our lives that you are to go to school, go to college, get a job and work until you die. Personally, that has never sounded appealing to me, but I tried to follow the normal flow to see what would happen. I attended my freshman year of college at Emporia State University and quickly realized that I wasn't ready for a university setting. Thinking that I would be more comfortable at home, I transferred credits my sophomore year to Metropolitan Community College. I realized that I wasn't focusing midway through the semester and I was falling behind. That is when I made the decision to pull myself from classes and take the rest of the year off to think about what I actually wanted to do.

I opened up my schedule at my previous job and worked a lot more, looking for a sign as of what to do with my life. Being there five days a week helped me determine this was not the direction I wanted my life to go. I could feel myself getting comfortable with the routine and it scared me. I sat long and hard in my room one night thinking about what I wanted to do and how I could make a difference in the world. Looking up at my wall of achievements, I realized most of them had come from school. I reminisced about all of the teachers who had a huge impact in my life and that is when I realized: I wanted to do that for someone else.

I went looking for a job that would help me gain more experience working with kids. After a week, I found one. I turned in my two-week notice at my previous job and said goodbye to the coworkers whom I had considered my second family. I now work at a daycare with two-year-olds and I could not be any happier.

It's okay to take a break from whatever it is you are doing in life. Sometimes you need a break to realize that you are getting too comfortable in something that is only supposed to be a temporary thing.

Sometimes you need a break to realize who you are and what you want to do with your life. You need time to yourself to think about the path you want to choose. You need to figure out the pros and cons of whatever big decision you're thinking of.

Sometimes, hearing input from other people is the last thing you need. You need to listen to yourself and a break from others -- that's okay. You don't need everyone else's input to make up your mind on your life. You need to do what is going to make you happy. Keep your head up and realize you need to do what is best for you.