The Gap Year Project

Welcome to the blog about my gap year. I'm calling it the The Gap Year Project because for me, that's what it is. The word project if defined as: An individual or collaborative enterprise planned and designed to achieve an aim (dictionary.com). My aim? To take this time to grow as a person, explore my interests, and become more fully prepared for the college experience. But most of all, it is time for me to find myself. As cliche as that is, it's something I feel I need to do. So is writing this blog. As soon as I made the choice to do this gap year, I felt as though I needed to record what happens as well as justify my reasoning to the world. No one seems to truly understand, so it is my hope that I can use this blog as a tool to express myself and share my thoughts/ideas/epiphanies (which may or may not occur), and adventures with others. 

When May of this year rolled around, and the college decision became the question of the hour, I felt more stress than I ever have before. All of a sudden, I was expected to pick the place that I would spend the next four years learning the skills for a career for the rest of my life. That's a lot of pressure to face and especially considering I had (and have) no idea what I want to seriously pressure. But... I will discuss this more later on. For now, I just want to welcome you to my blog. Oh and a big thank you to the friend of mine who helped to give me this idea (which is totally genius). Thank you for giving me the idea to take advantage of the internet and motivate me to express myself.

Let's begin with basics. My name is Annie, I am 18 and next fall I am headed to the University of Vermont. Currently, I'm working at the local marine store and probably will continue to work and save money for the rest of the fall. In this time, I hope to come up with the game plan for the rest of the year. Traveling is my biggest ambition for this year (and for the rest of my life). I really want to go on a backpacking trip sometime soon, but my work schedule is rather full. But I will still be thinking that through too. I have the beginnings of a plan for the winter, but the rest I am going to just go with my gut and search for adventure. This is my time to grow before heading off to the lovely UVM next fall. This is a time for me to explore my interests. This is a time for me to learn more about myself. This is a time for adventure. This is the Gap Year Project.