I am a born procrastinator. Projects are saved for the last minute, homework left untouched until sunday night, even this post was pushed back until mere hours before fall training. That is not however, how I feel about my upcoming bridge year. This isn’t some elaborate plot to escape the threat of summer reading, nor some lame attempt to avoid the tedium of housing surveys and alcohol education courses. In fact, I would go so far as to say the very opposite.
I’m someone who places a premium on perspective. That’s not to say perspective is something I have though. Coming from an affluent Boston suburb I’d actually say that I perspective is something that I’m acutely lacking in. That’s why I’m taking this year. For me, to have simply gone back to school would have been the easy way out. Had I gone to school, I would be able to continue living virtually the same life I have for the past 18 years. Instead, it’s time for me to bust out of the life I’ve grown so comfortable leading and experience something entirely new and different.
Tomorrow, I put an end to my procrastinating tendencies. At least when it comes to developing perspective. Tomorrow when I board that plane I take the first step on a lifelong journey towards a deeper understanding of those around me. That is why I’m leaving. To walk a mile in the shoes of another, and if all goes well, return with a richer understanding of those around me and the world we live in.
