Nowadays, our society has this stereotype that one graduates from high school with all of their very best friends, with this super high GPA, and “rides off into the sunset,” going to this huge college in just a few short months and starting the next chapter of their life.

This is a letter to the girl that didn't do the stereotypical thing and took the road less traveled. I was one of those girls. I graduated from a private Christian school that I had attended for thirteen years, kindergarten to senior year. I walked across the stage in May of 2014 with a graduating class of 64 people. I didn't have a high GPA, and didn't really know what I was doing with college, but that was my own fault. I didn't try in high school, I didn’t have the motivation to care.

Senior year was kind of a bust for me. I didn't enjoy it in the slightest. I was doing a long distance relationship with my boyfriend. My friendships in school had kind of drifted apart and I just wasn't involved. I changed my schedule so I was able to leave school at 11:20 a.m. every day and I pretty much missed more school days than I actually attended. It even got to the point I was threatened multiple times that if I missed another day, I wouldn't graduate.

Well graduation day came and went, and I was so happy to leave that place. I never wanted to look back and still haven't to this day. I know for a fact though, I most definitely wouldn't have made it out of there without the people that loved and supported me.

I took that fall semester off of school and in the spring of 2015 I started taking online community college classes. At this point I actually cared, I knew that one day I wanted to go to a university somewhere. Two and a half years past and I worked my butt off, I took a good amount of credits each semester and classes in the summer to catch up on the time that I took off from school. Now here I am. I'm college at a four-year institution working toward getting my degree in Communication and making a name for myself.

Don’t let our society's stereotypes influence you or make you feel bad about the path that you're on in life right now and most definitely don't give up. There are big plans out there waiting for you. We each have our own story, so you write yours!