Like many high school students gearing up for graduation this month, I thought I had everything figured out at the ripe age of 18: which college I was going to attend, what I would study, and how I would pay for it.
Bowling and painting were my two passions in high school, so earning a full scholarship to bowl at an out-of-state university where I could major in fine arts was my dream come true.
Unfortunately, that all fell apart when a wrist injury and two consequential surgeries left me unable to bowl or paint for the foreseeable future. Just like that, my plan was foiled.
With mounting bills to pay and a lost sense of direction, I did what felt most responsible at the time: I dropped out and started working full-time.
Six months later, I enrolled in a community college in my hometown. I worked a range of jobs while earning an associate’s degree — from customer service at Blockbuster to running the writing center at my college. A few years later, I went back to obtain a bachelor’s degree in psychology and art therapy. My job search exhausted every available tool and platform, including Craigslist, where I found a role at Kaplan that ended up being life-changing. Today, I’m a CEO.
