Up until last month (June 2024) I had absolutely NO idea what I would do after I graduated. I never had any "when I grow up I want to be..." thoughts when I was younger. I've never had strong passions or any hobbies either, so if I chose to go to college I would have no idea what I would study. My junior year I was tired of having to explain this story, so I settled with the idea that I would study engineering after high school. I was decent at math and recently started liking the idea of doing some sort of construction/interior design, so that was a perfectly safe answer to tell the adults who asked what my plans were. Nearing the end of my senior year after taking AP Calculus and AP Physics I concluded that I did NOT want to be an engineer... so I was back at square one.

       I settled on the idea of taking a gap year, but my parents suggested at least doing a program so I wouldn't feel stuck during the year. I agreed wholeheartedly. Finally one night, my good friend Lydia brought up one of her friends who just recently finished her World Race trip and how her life had completely changed. I was a little overwhelmed because all of my other family got very excited for me after the idea was brought up. It excited me as well, yet I obviously wasn't ready to commit to anything.

       Honestly I totally forgot about it for like a month. Lol. But one night it randomly popped into my head, so I looked up the World Race website and did a little research. The 9 month gap year program caught my eye the most-- traveling to three different continents and four different countries. My best friend and I are going to Florida in August, and I was nervous it was going to interfere with our trip, but it turns out I will have a whole week to be home before I start training in Georgia. This was the moment I knew that this is what I needed to do for my first year after high school. I talked to my parents, got my meetings arranged with different counselors, I got accepted, and now I am SO excited to go on this trip. I can't wait to make life-long friends and to deepen my relationship with the Lord. Many more updates to come.