Before the title leads you astray, I am the second oldest of five siblings. However, I am the only sibling who has always been college bound and the only one who currently attends college. I am the typical middle child—I range from average to barely above average in almost everything I do. I was the one who went through my adolescent years without much of an outward struggle.

But before last year, I had my big sister, Hannah, as a guide for most of the things I did (good and bad). She fought the I-want-to-get-my-ears-pierced battle when she was 5, and thus I was able to get my ears pierced for my fourth birthday. She got all of her vaccinations before me (as I watched though teary eyes). She went through school before me, naturally, and figured out who all the good teachers were. She helped me pick out my first-day-of-high-school outfit. She let me [illegally] drive her car before I had my license, but gave me some of the best driving advice I have ever received ("Assume everyone is trying to kill you"). She got her first job long before me, had her first interview before me, graduated from high school before me, and the list goes on. I always had someone to reach out to for advice and to show me the way until I went to college.

For the first time in my life, I was without my role model. Of all four of my parents, only my step-mom had gone to a traditional four-year university straight out of high school. I was on my own in this endeavor, so I had to be brave and hope for the best. Before the moment I said my final goodbyes to my parents as they left Evansville and headed to Indy, I really didn’t know how hard it is to be the first in your family to try things out. It’s not something you figure out until you experience it.

The experience was hard, but I don’t regret it. It paved a path of personal independence that I had never learned before. The return on investment from being the first to go to college (and going to college at all) is a lifelong lesson/skill-set. But there are different and equally great ways to build a skill-set.

While I was building my future, I realized Hannah was also building hers. We were on two different trajectories for the first time in our lives, but both of us flourished.

Going to college is a wonderful route for many, but it is just one of many options. The high school I went to was extremely college focused, and luckily for me, college was an option that suited my wants. But college may not suit everyone’s wants, and that is okay. My mom is a successful entrepreneur, my dad is an engineer at Eli Lilly, and Hannah has a wonderful job at ADESA with my step-mom. Only two of those four people have a college degree (the one with the highest salary and [most likely] the greatest job satisfaction does not have a college degree).

As for my three younger sisters—specifically the one going into her senior year of high school this fall—I hope they all find satisfaction in their post-high school lives, regardless of which path they choose.