What My Gap Year Taught Me?



My sister used to always say the famous quote "Not all who wander are lost" and I never understood it, well not until I wandered a bit and found parts of myself while I saw the world. Mind you, people always talk about the beautiful destinations and the five star resorts and that is rather fun. However, I found myself in some of the harsher environments I've been in. Taking a year off and working two jobs to pay for school, going back to school and playing a sport collegiately while still working a job helped me to find who I was. I don't mean to glamorize these strenuous experiences because in the moment these thing were not even close to being easy and many times I thought about giving up on my dreams. But I stuck with it and found solace in the moments of late night restaurant shifts laughing with coworkers who were also sleep deprived, stressed out undergrad students like myself. I found myself during the heated debates my coworkers and I would have in-between taking fast food drive through orders. Wandering gave me a sense of humility and self, I could not be more appreciative for it, it taught me that the most powerful thing I could be is grateful.

This brings me to right now, I feel like I am at a crossroads. Do I spend more of my youth wandering or do I launch myself straight into grad school and work tirelessly to succeed right now? While making the decision about if I want to take time off before committing to law school I realized there were so many beautiful moments and people in my history that I didn't appreciate at that time. I am talking about all of these beautiful moments but had never really realized that I had let them all pass me by without stopping to cherish them. I was always passionately pursuing something, always seeking an accomplishment that held all of my focus. As I near the end of this accomplishment I can't help but think "Will I regret spending my life fervently chasing a future and not ever stopping to enjoy the present?" I watch a Youtuber named Angelika and she said that she did not want to spend all her time pursuing a law career and waste her twenties being miserable to make the upcoming decades good, she wanted to make all of her years her good years. Her point was that law school will always be there but once in a lifetime chances to have experiences while you're not tied down by anything are invaluable. That doesn't mean don't work hard and pursue your dreams but definitely stop and enjoy the view from where you're at in life every once in a while.

I am left with only this closing thought as I have yet to make up my mind "Maybe those who don't think to appreciate their time wandering are those who are truly lost?" I truly hope I find the answer to this question soon and I make a good decision but for now this is where my heart is at. 

“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested." -Seneca

Comments

Popular Posts