​’Tis the season for pumpkin spice and all things basic. We tend to see these things blow up on social media, but it’s also the time for midterms. Which means by the time this article comes out, we’ll be a little more than half way through the semester. For me, this is my second to last semester as an undergraduate. That’s right, that means I’m getting real sick and tired of hearing “what are you doing after college?” Every time someone asks me that, I just want to slap them right in the front of their throat, and walk away.

Ever since I was a kid I’ve known, or at least had a strong idea of what I wanted to do. I’ve never like the traditional way of getting to where I want to be, which seems to bother the rest of society and their rigid rules. Let’s just talk about this for a minute. Every day I commute from Old Orchard Beach to UNE. I can come straight here, stopping at the appropriate stop signs and lights. The other option, is I can take a brief detour in Saco to go to Dunkin Donuts and get a large hot dark roast coffee with one cream and two sugars, and a chocolate glazed donut (or Boston creme, depending on what mood I’m in) before continuing on my way to UNE. Now, I still get to UNE to attend class and get my work done. I just got there a different way. And when I stroll into class and jealous bitches be judging because I have chocolate sauce all over my face and coffee in my hands, that’s their problem because I’m pleased as punch.

​You can take whatever path you want to take to get to where you want to go. You can get three master’s degrees before you get the master’s you’ll need. You can take ten years off before going back to school. You can you whatever the heck you want. At the end of the day it’s your life. You’re the one who has to live it. When you go to bed at night, you go to bed with yourself and you need to be happy with who you are and what you’ve done. In my case, people preach that I’m not going to go back to school if I take time off. You know what? That irritates me so badly. Like, do you not know how I’m like when I want something? They’ve clearly never seen me on free cone day Ben & Jerry’s…

In all honesty, I’ve gotten to the point where I’m just making things up to tell people when they ask what I’m doing. The answers range from a year of Netflix with my cats to seeing how many donut holes I can fit in my mouth at once (the limit does not exist). I have a lot I want to do, and I probably won’t get them all accomplished in my gap year; however, I can’t wait to try. I want to leave you with a quote by Confucius, “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”