So in order for this picture to make sense, I have to tell a little story. I haven’t told that many people, cause no one’s really asked, but here it is. In May of my senior year (aka maybe four months ago), I was completely set to go to SF State. Had my housing and everything. Then I signed up to be an Outdoor Education counselor. (For people who don’t live in California, sixth graders are required to go to a site and learn about nature.) I had the most amazing week of my life and I never wanted to leave. Then they told us that if we were unsure about college or what we wanted to do or if we just didn’t like traditional school, there could be a place for us there at Shady Creek Outdoor School. Student Naturalist, someone who works there and helps out and teaches classes but doesn’t have to have a college degree. So despite my mom’s wishes with every fiber of her being for me to get an education and my dad’s hope that I could finally find a place I fit in at SF and every teacher I’d really connected with’s encouragement that college is what you do, I said no. In a month, I was going to graduate and instead of wearing a college sweatshirt and picking out my classes and filling out a roommate survey, I decided that I was going to take a year off. I get to wear crummy clothes and a Shady Creek sweatshirt and teach classes about birds and Native Americans and creek ecology and team building and I’ll be living in a dome. And I get to see this beautiful sky every night. <3
