If there's one thing I've learned in my 15 years of schooling, it's that school is not my strength. I'm an average student and I don't necessarily excel in any subject. I enjoy writing, but don't want to take classes that determine what I write about. For a very long time I felt like a failure. My peers, friends, and siblings are all extremely intelligent and for awhile I felt like I couldn't compare to them. They take pride in their grades, and I was always ashamed of mine.

For years I wanted nothing more than to be able to enjoy school. I thought majoring in Biomed and getting straight A's was the only way to succeed in life. I wished that the desire to learn would overcome me, and my life would turn around, but rather than letting it crumble apart just because I'm uninterested in school, I found other activities that uplifted and empowered me to keep striving and get my degree.

Now that I'm older, I've realized that although I don't exceed in school, I embody a wide array of skills that don't require being on the Dean's List or memorizing formulas and equations.My strong communication skills and work ethic has allowed me to train in different jobs which has granted me the ability to have a better idea of what kind of career I want in the future. This also gives me an advantage because I have experience in many different areas of work. Customer service? Sales? Service Industry? Daycare? I've done it all.

Working allows me to decide what I do with my life. For example, because of my experience in the service industry I know that I never want to serve another table again. Instead, I can focus on other types of jobs that catch my interest and allow me to grow within myself. I love learning skills that relate to my life and give it meaning. Working isn't always exciting, but I prefer it over class, homework, studying, quizzes, tests, projects, presentations, research papers, MLA format -- you get the point.

I'm at the point where I know I'm only in school for a degree. Because these days you need a degree to get 99% of the careers you want. While my friends are talking about getting their Masters or even PhD's, I'm ready to graduate and travel. I'm ready to focus on my career and save my money; not spend it on an education I don't even appreciate. I know everyone says "stay in school as long as you can", but to me graduating and moving on seems exciting. I will finally have the freedom to really do what I want with my life. My schedule won't be constrained to my Professor's syllabus.

Anyone who thoroughly enjoys school, I commend you. You are what I always wanted to be, but I'm comfortable in my abilities and where they will take me in life, regardless of my GPA or major.