<p>So I'm dropping out of my T25 university and squandering my 'education' to try something different. At 22, I'm young and strong and if there's something out there in the world for me - I'm going to go find it.</p>
<p>This means spending time in the disheartening world of low-paying jobs while enduring the doubt and darkness that may come during the night. It's a bitter trade, and it's proving more painful that I imagined, but I will not yield!</p>
<p>I'm leaving at years end with whatever money I've saved and my backpack, beginning in Africa and making my way across the world, with an end goal to have set foot on every continent before journey's end. Some of you might ask why I just don't finish my degree (too late, the die is cast and the doors are shut), or how I'm not aware of the consequences... but somewhere out there the lion roars, and the sound of it travels for miles across the plains. The Aegean's waters are still as blue as they were for Odysseus. There's no substitute for walking through Jerusalem or feeling the sand in your hands. Lloyd Blankfein's office may be high above Manhattan, but the Himalayans soar higher. More than anything its the people, and everyone has a story, every lined face etched in suffering or laughter, and the opportunity, if even for a moment, to share the burden together.</p>
<p>I've been perusing these forums a bit, and thought I'd throw a small counter-weight to the college worshipers and HYPSM bigots. I feel like too many kids make the mistake of not asking themselves who they are and what they're not. I wanted to remind my college cohort that there's a big beautiful world out there, if you have the fire to explore it. For a lot of us there is no straight road. I'll find my own way.</p>
<p>I'm looking forward to taking responsibility for my life and my choices. I've been getting this sense that my youth is fleeting and I'm stuck in suspended animation. I guess I just want to live free and suck out all the marrow of life, at least until some other hope calls out.</p>