For me, graduating is a lot like a mid-life crisis – the closer we get to May 24, the more I realize how unsatisfied with high school I am. I feel a great urgency to get out of Rolla completely and move on with my life, but, to what? Where is this terribly depressing metaphor called “life” taking me?

Some of the more “prioritized” people may have their plans all lined up: four-year degree, steady job, marriage, family, retirement. But, what about the curious and the crazies that have gypsy written in their DNA? What are we to do when the demands of society and secondary education simply don’t fit us the right way?

I’ve been planning for college since eighth grade, the only thing I ever wanted to do was educate myself beyond comprehension and prove myself to the world. However, things such as standardized tests and generalized learning make me lose all hope of the future. Why should strange people that defeat the purpose of a “standard” have to take standardized tests that high school hasn’t prepared them for? But, at the same time, my horrible ACT scores and my denied applications into Missouri’s top schools made me realize my options. A friend once told me, “Once you graduate, you don’t really have to do anything. You could stay in Rolla and live off your parents or you could run through the woods naked if that’s what your heart desires.”

If you’re like me, a senior stuck in the decision-making process and tediously counting the days until the last day of school, just remember: there are options. For instance, I’m going to retake the ACT. I’m going to reapply to colleges. I’m going to make a name for myself – whether it be performing live music in dirty bars or writing a groundbreaking news article or maybe even a broke college grad stressing over a terrible fiction novel.

We’ve been told since we can first remember that we need to go to college, we need to get a job, we need to make money, and we need to spend it. But, there is so much more to life than that, there is travel, there is wisdom and experience and knowledge to gain, and following the direct path will get us nowhere interesting. My biggest fear in life is to be bored with what I’ve created for myself. So, why limit ourselves?  As Robert Frost wrote in his poem, “The Road Not Taken,”