My plans have been all over the place since February. Like
oh my gosh have they. My initial plan was like all other soon to be graduated
high school seniors. Go to college, get a job, be independent, etc. February
however brought the sad news that I was not accepted into the school of my
choice. Brigham Young University Utah. I felt fairly confident I would be
accepted into BYU but NO! Their loss. Actually in all honesty I was quite upset
by it and cried for a couple days but that doesn't matter. After I collected
myself I decided "next best choice".
Southern Virginia University! Woo! SVU is a really small
private college in the middle of nowhere. A very beautiful middle of nowhere,
but still in the middle of nowhere. I've visited the campus several times. It's
beautiful, teaches interesting and worthwhile things, and follows my style of
learning. Even though it is a great school I just wasn't feeling it. Then Dad
HAD to go and question my motives. Why did I even want to go to college? It's
kind of sad when your only answer is because it's just what you do. He kind of shook up my thinking and said I
don't even have to go to school. I can go live life and do fun and adventurous
things. He suggested, among other things that I could go live in Utah anyway
and live the life of a college kid without going to college. SAY WHAT?!
Taking my fathers sage advice I decided to take a gap year.
What is that you may ask? According to the Oxford Dictionary, "A period,
typically an academic year, taken by a student as a break between secondary
school and higher education." It's more common in European countries but
is done by the preppy rich kids of America. Because I'm totally a preppy rich
kid. Not. Anyway I had already payed for my plane ticket out to Utah, asked relatives
if I could stay for a bit, and tentatively started looking for job. But guess
what?! Then my plans changed again!
You're probably thinking, "Wow this chic is so
indecisive. She should just make up her mind and stick to it. I mean come
on!" Please forgive me for making you think this. It truly wasn't my
intention. I've also been thinking the same thing. Believe me. It's been
driving me insane. Making decisions that affect your life forever though are
very difficult to make. I'm sure you know that. After all the plan changing I
think it's taught me to be open and flexible. To still make plans but if needs be led to not follow the norm. So are you ready for this?! My official last plan change
that's going to lead me to a fun adventurous life?! Of course you are! I've
been building it up forever.
A week before I was scheduled to move to Utah I was sitting
in church and I got a message from my old piano teacher. She had a friend who
had an acquaintance (confusing I know) looking for an Au Pair in France. She
suggested that if I was interested I should reach out to the family. At this
point I was kind of reeling. It just seemed like such an amazing opportunity
but I'd have to ditch all preparations for Utah and prep for this instead. Changing plans at this point was normal but that's kind of a large change. It
was just a lot to take in. So I went home after church, consulted with the good
ol' parentals, and decided to go for it! Who's going to pass up France!? Not
me! So I emailed them, it took them forever to respond, and in the end they
said they wanted to go with someone they knew a little better. Jerks. Just
kidding! They actually seemed like a really nice family.
I was kind of disappointed after being kindly rejected.
However I got to thinking, "I can be an Au Pair anyway!" So I found a
free Au Pair website made a profile and within 3 days I got 27 different people
interested in having me as their Au Pair. I'll just say being the eldest of 8
children can have it's perks sometimes. Some families seemed more interesting than others. Others showed more interest me as a person than others. The families were from countries like Spain, Italy, France, and even some from Ireland.
Out of all the families there was one that really stood out to me. They seemed the most enthusiastic to meet me and wanted me to be a part of their family. After a couple Skype sessions and messaging it became official! I'm to be their Au Pair for the school year and part of the summer if I so choose. And in what country?! SPAIN! A Coruna, Spain to be exact. Look how beautiful it is!
(photo cred to the family's current Au Pair)
