In my opinion, I was never truly in the mold to begin with. I didn’t grow up in one childhood home, I’ve always hated school for as long as I can remember and therefore never wanted to go to college, and I never went to a public school.
Even though I hated school, I loved learning. I remember more about what I taught myself over the years than what I learned from schoolwork. I read endless books about animals and plants, I breezed through thick fiction books, I experimented with building things in the backyard.
I remember one time I tried to build a clock. I filled an old plastic jug with water, poked a tiny hole in it, and tried to mark the water level after the hours had gone by. It didn’t work.
When I was ten or eleven I wrote my first short story. It was about how a fox had murdered one of our chickens in the backyard. It moved my siblings to angry tears, and whether it was my writing or my audacity that caused them, I came to realize the power words held.
So I wrote my first novel. Then I wrote my second. Then I wrote one every year after that. My computer is filled with documents, some finished, some unedited, some snippets of thoughts I once had.
But writing, though I love it, does not define me. I discovered that I love to teach people. I became skilled at tennis, got certified, and coached kids at the yacht club and then the YMCA. I got to work outside, I got to do something I loved, I got to work with kids and people I liked. I’d worked at a grocery store beforehand, which I hated. I plan to never go back to a job I hate just for a paycheck.
I also became a babysitter. I know what you’re probably thinking; most teenage girls babysit. However, I not only maintained a reputation that earned me extra tips and new clients
I still don’t want to go to college, but I do want to learn. So what could I do outside of that?
Several things, actually. For one thing, I began dipping my toes into the world of eBay selling and creating designs to put on products online, just to see what I could discover. Secondly, I started the Automated Income Machine course with Jumpcut Academy to learn how to create an online information product. Finally, I began Praxis.
Praxis is what I’m most excited about. I will learn skills and gain experience I never would have on my own. I’ll be able to break free from not only the college mold but also the basic 9-5 five days a week mold.
There are a hundred different things I want to do, paths I want to take. I want to start skiing again, perhaps become a ski coach just because I can. I want to get better at tennis. I want to spend a month in the Bahamas. I want to start my own business. I want to write a movie, maybe even direct a movie. I want to write a successful book series. The list could go on. I have so much to learn. I have the rest of my life and only the rest of my life to do it all. But for now, let’s just look at the next year or so.
Currently I am:
- Beginning Praxis (there are a ton of different projects that go into this, it’s not just one thing)
- Preparing to write
another 50k words for my novel in November - Going through AIM with Jumpcut Academy (basically starting my own online business)
- Working as a part-time tennis instructor.
I also may write a short horror piece for a zine, but I’m already stretching myself pretty thin. Still, it would be amazing and I want to do it. We shall see.
I don’t know what led you to my website and blog. Maybe you’re tired of the mold. Maybe you think there’s more out there for you. Maybe sitting in a cubicle at a job you hate just isn’t for you. Maybe you’re just bored and looking for some kind of reading material. Regardless of why you’re here, ponder on this question as you go about your day.
Are you truly satisfied with the mold you’re in?