Forward Facing by Kyle

Forward Facing by Kyle - May 2014 Scholarship Essay

“You know college isn’t for everybody son”. My father’s words to myself. All of this had bubbled up sinced I took a year off from my education to gain a better perspective. He proceeded to go on and explain to me that I needn’t feel pressure from my parents to pursue a degree. “No half steps, only leaps”. He simply urged that whatever I deem to be important should receive all of my attention. The uneasy air about my being needed no deciphering on my father’s end; it was readily apparent that I was lost and should be given the allowance of time.

Freshman year in the books and a slight serving of discontentment later, I went on hiatus. Admittedly, I sat around for a few months and demolished bag after bag of snack foods. There is no more disconcerting feeling to not know, truly know, what to do with yourself. Additional advice was issued from my Dad’s mouth, free of charge too. He asked me what I like to do in my free time. I answered, “Well, I enjoy technology. Not too much, a surface view of it. Oh and I also find talking with people fulfilling”. He replied with a simple smile and told me to look up majors that cover those points. This advice seems reminiscent of the typical high school counselor speech doesn’t it? It does, but at the time I did not see fit to absorb their thoughts. Snack food consumption slowing and self-confidence rising, I landed on Information Systems Management.

An emerging field that required not so extensive knowledge of tech and a heavier handed requirement of business sense. “No half steps, only leaps”. Echoes rung in my mind. Sensibility reigned and I acquired a job in the tech sector. Long story short, my year off worked. I fell in love with my choice the field of work, the co workers, the sense of accomplishment. The year ended and I gave my adieus and returned to college.

At the time, the advice from Dad seemed a little critical and insulting. I realize now it is the most prudent thing anybody has ever told me. If you’re not in school to expend all your effort then why even bother? Interest renewed, I have stopped shuffling. With my goals in sight I will leap and bound as high as I can.