or, why I dropped out of school this semester to explore Southeast Asia
I don’t often feel the need to justify myself to the general population.
I’ve made some questionable decisions in my day (and I thank God for my the unwavering support of my parents who, for one reason or another, trust me to know what is best for me.) I switched between three different high schools during the last two years of my secondary education. While my peers applied to countless colleges, I applied to two — my dream school and a backup. Despite rejection, I forced my way into the single university I wanted to attend. At risk of a secondary rejection, I pushed back my admission until the following year so as to travel through Europe at 18 years old. When a business degree suddenly didn’t seem right, I snaked my way into one of the world’s best film schools (and, ironically enough, will still graduate with a business entrepreneurship minor.) And now, I am dropping out of school temporarily to explore Southeast Asia.
If a semester abroad is entirely necessary to refresh my perspective, train my mind and prepare for my final year of education before delving into the exponentially larger fish tank of professional life, why should I bother keeping the world informed of what I am doing? If you don’t get it, you don’t get it. Why should I waste either of our time trying to prove myself to those who may not care to begin with?
I write every single day to both meditatively debrief every 24 hours and to remember the past. Not all of my thoughts and words are fit for publication.
But mustn’t some of them be?
I suppose this flawed methodology has allowed me to delay the writing and publication of my first public post.
And so, I begin.