This is something that has really been on my heart throughout the entire process of discovering, applying, and preparing for the World Race.
No, I haven’t graduated college yet.
And that’s okay.
Originally, I put off any sort of long-term mission trip because my focus was school. Ever since I was old enough to think about my future, I had a set plan. Get my undergraduate degree, have perfect grades, work in a vet clinic to get experience, go to vet school, be successful. The end.
Fast forward to college and I was quickly getting burned out. I struggled with finding the passion I once had to become a vet and I felt that my education was for back of a better term, pointless. I didn’t understand why I felt so unfulfilled with a major and college that I loved. I remember several conversations with friends about how I just felt like there was more to life than sitting in a classroom, memorizing material, and then regurgitating it back onto a Scantron. But I continued on…until I found out about the World Race.
It clicked. This is where I was supposed to be. Except it wasn’t. So I ignored it for a while. I (kind of obsessively) read all the blogs and looked at the routes, told my friends about the program and all about how this was what I was doing as soon as I graduated. Because society says you’re supposed to finish college and THEN you can do something big, but you’re never supposed to just take a year off of college since that’s frowned upon.
I was afraid of what my parents and family would say, of how my college would look at me, and of how I would be treated. I searched and searched for a racer that had taken a year off of college to do the race and I couldn’t find any, so again I thought that this was an excuse for me to wait and do the socially acceptable thing of waiting to graduate.
But then God with His ever so small voice, reminded me that I am not here on this earth to please the world. I am His and I am made in His image to bring Him glory.
After the race, I do plan on finishing both of my degrees. After I said yes to God, I stopped worrying and found a renewed focus for my studies. Just because many racers graduate before going on the race, it doesn’t mean that I have to. And just because I have decided to go on the race before I graduate, it doesn’t mean that you have to.
Please don’t misunderstand; I LOVE my college, my degrees, and learning, but trying to ignore something God has called you to do is like arm wrestling someone with you’re pinky. Try as you might, you’re not gonna win and it’s probably going to hurt a little in the process. That’s where I was.
This is for you future racers who are in college.
I wanted to write the blog that I was searching for.
If this is where God has called you, apply. Don’t worry about what other people think because it’s not about pleasing people here on this earth, it’s about furthering the Kingdom. God may be calling you step out in faith for a year; say YES! College is a blessing, but don’t let it hold you back from God’s call on your life. It’s not going anywhere anytime soon 🙂
