A Year On Pause

Did I have a plan? Yeah, I did.

Most high school graduates don't know exactly where they want to go to college, let alone what they want to study. Some start college immediately, not wanting to postpone the dreadful years of school any longer. Others take a gap year. A pause year. A year dedicated to figuring out what they want to do with their lives. They work, travel, or just stay at home, pondering the possibilities of professions.

I intended on taking a gap year. After all, what's the rush? Why stress myself in finding the perfect career path when I can take a year off to travel and try new things? The last chance I get to take off, without a job, family, or school to tie me down.

I had plans of backpacking along the relaxed streets of Italy and Switzerland in Europe, trekking the wilderness of the Amazon river in Brazil, or helping to start schools in South Africa.

Exotic. That's what all my plans were. They all consisted of exploring somewhere new, completely out of my comfort zone.

None of my plans included staying bored and indoors. I didn't even consider it. I didn't consider the fact that I would be stuck inside all day, with sterile instruments and stark white walls enclosing around me.

No, dying in a hospital room was never part of my plan.