Dear 21-year-old-self,

Last week was the first day of my senior year of college. Fresh textbooks filled new backpacks. Groups gossiped about their summers. Syllabi were passed out on crisp bleached paper.

The only issue is, I never showed up.

You graduate high school, you get into college, you graduate in four years, you get a job. The curriculum was laid out, the expectations were clear. I, however, have never been one to follow rules.

Who dictates that we should graduate in four square years? When I started my freshman year, I used to plan out my classes for hours, trying to see if I could graduate in three years. You'll show them, I would tell myself, as if this was all a competition.

The question is not "How fast can I graduate college?"

The question should be "Who the hell cares how long it takes me to graduate college?"

I log onto Facebook. My friends are graduating, getting married, and having children. I can feel the anxiety boiling up, urging me to get out there and check all my boxes.

And then I have to remind myself that I'm twenty-one years old. I shouldn't feel rushed to do these things. I have no dependents. I have no mortgage. I have a disposable income.

I finally had to sit myself down and have a heart to heart.

"What do you want to do most in the world?"

Easy. "Travel."

 

So as university students eagerly made their last minute schedule changes on August 9th, I dropped all of my classes and bought a plane ticket. If I have a passion, and the means to live it out, why should another year of school stand in my way?

Sorry, class of 2016. I'm sure you won't miss me too much. Enjoy your exams and papers, I'll get my share of that next year.

Why should a four-year timestamp be placed on my education? No thank you, American educational system. I think I'd rather see the Bahamas, and Scotland, and Iceland, and England, and Germany, and Thailand, and wherever else the wind takes me because Lord knows I have yet to buy a plane ticket home yet.

Leave of Absence

Hello, readers! As you can see, I have not been posting much lately. This is because I am currently on the Disney College Program in Orlando, Florida. As a result, I will be taking a leave of absence from this blog for the time being, and will be posting only on All Roads Lead to Disney. HERE is a link to my most recent post so you can read up on all the great adventures I have been on lately!

Nowhere

I am a month overdue on uploading those spring break pictures. Attempt number one failed after Facebook deleted the album I spent two hours uploading. I will try again soon, I promise! And a blog post will accompany the upload!

In the meantime, I have been trying to enjoy non-school life. Which, as it turns out, simply means I can work 12 hours a day instead of 8. Lovely! And I have two weeks to pack for Florida (by the way, I'm moving to Florida for the summer. Forgot to mention that. For a full recap of my acceptance to the summer alumni program at Walt Disney World, visit my other blog HERE). And I fly out to Seattle tomorrow. I should probably start packing for that, too... But as you can see, I am more busy post-finals than when I was right in the midst of all the exams.

In other news, I have been pondering the word "nowhere" as of late. Although some may say that my blog title, All Roads Lead To Nowhere, is grammatically incorrect, I say otherwise. Nowhere, I would tell them, is not simply a state of inexistence, but a destination. For example, you see your roommate dressed up and walking out the front door.

"Where are you going?" you ask.
"Oh, nowhere," they reply, oftentimes with an anxious grin on their face.

Of course, they are going somewhere. But perhaps they are completely unaware of their final destination. Maybe that is the whole point of going "nowhere." You are not bound to a single plan, but are leaving your fate completely up to chance. Oh, the possibilities! Oh, the adventure!

This is why that is my final destination. It is the place that all the roads, at least the ones that matter most, lead.

Nowhere.

Spring Break

It is Friday the 13th, but I am not worried at all - ecstatic, actually, because spring break has officially begun! And with that said, I am ready to knock three more states off of my list on my road trip next week. I am very excited because my mom is flying down to come with us, and she has never been to this part of the country before!

My feeble attempt at a map of our trip.

First stop: Illinois. 

Although I have been to Illinois when I had a layover in Detroit, I want to cross this state off with a little more confidence this time. Though our road trip only has us passing through the southernmost tip of the state, I am hoping that there will be a nice place to stop. A scenic overlook, perhaps, as this point marks the intersection of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

Next stop: Missouri and Arkansas.

I have absolutely no idea what to expect out of these states. However, we will be driving along the coast of the Mississippi river the entire time, so that should be pretty!

Final destination: Memphis, Tennessee.

Yes, we may have taken the scenic route to get to the state right below Kentucky. But I feel like the scenic route is always worth it! In Memphis, we will be visiting Graceland, the home of Elvis. Boy, is my mom stoked!

 

Detour: Mississippi

This state is like twenty minutes away from Memphis. So why not swing on in so that I can cross it off my list?

Next: Nashville, Tennessee.

Here, we will visit all things music. I have no idea what that will entail just yet, but it should be a blast!

Finally: Kentucky.

Home, sweet home! Tune in next week for all the pictures from our long, southern journey!

Snowpocalypse

It has been three months, and I have returned once again! College is chaotic, don't you agree? Between midterms, finals, traveling, and working, my free time is completely minimal. But I have a feeling that free time will be minimal for many years to come. Yay for adulthood! (Did you catch the sarcasm?)

Now, can we talk about this ice age that has taken over the entire northeastern part of the country? Let's just compare the following pictures for a moment:

Seattle, Washington (via my mom)

Lexington, Kentucky

I never though I would say this, but can I just go back to Seattle for awhile to enjoy their warm weather?

On Sunday evening, school was cancelled for the following day before a single snowflake even touched the ground. It snowed all day Monday, causing school the following day to be cancelled as well. Here we are, Wednesday afternoon:

Yet there is still school today. Not even class delays due to snow. This tweet about sums up what Capilouto, the president of the University of Kentucky, was thinking whilst not cancelling classes.

Enjoy:
TWEET