You have most likely been wondering what made me decide on a year of “roughing it” around the globe rather than a year that could be spent in the U.S. working towards a degree. Frankly, I have often questioned the same thing. Here’s the closest answer I can give you: I can’t decide what I want to do with the rest of my life.
As senior year started I had absolutely no clue as to what I wanted to do post high school, all I knew was that I wanted to travel. When faced with questions like “Where are you planning on going to college?” and “What do you want to major in?”, I couldn’t come up with a solid answer. At some point between now and the beginning of August, I decided that college is not an option for me at this point in my life. I do not feel as if I am ready to rush into college without a clue as to what I want to major in. Making this decision not only scared me, but made me nervous about what would happen with my future. Growing up I was under the illusion that once you graduate high school you have to know exactly what you want to do with your life and go straight into college. I’d also been told that if I didn’t go to college I would never be able to find a decent job (If that’s not enough to scare a girl who has no long-term plans, I don’t know what is). Due to the social norms surrounding college I believed that if I didn’t go right away I would be seen as a failure or disappointment. Now I see that I could not have been more wrong. On coming to this decision I have experienced an outpour of support from my friends, family and community and I could not be more grateful.
The Lord knows that I have a passion for helping others, traveling and spreading love so He put me in a position where I could choose all of those things, and I am so, so glad that he did. I now recognize that the Lord put me in this situation so that I could see that my life is not mine, it’s His. I have decided to give it all up and live for Him. It is my hope that leaving my surroundings for 9 months to serve and spread love will humble me and help me to focus on the plans that the Lord has for my future.
In Psalms 96:3 it says “Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.”, with this Gap Year trip I will be able to do just that. On this trip I will travel with a group of about 55 people to 5 countries including the Dominican Republic, Haiti, the Philippines, Botswana and South Africa. We will be doing anything from working with local churches and teaching english to doing construction work all while spreading the love of God.
Although I do have some fear of missing out and falling behind others my age, I am so blessed to have this opportunity, and I cannot wait to be able to travel and spread the love of God to others. Next year will be one of the most transformative years of my life and I am so glad to have you all along for this journey.
Thank you for taking time out of your day to read my rambling, you all rock 🙂
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