Instead of College

A while back, I made a list of 10 things I wanted to do instead of going to college (or before, depending on how my life works out). When I made it, James Altucher’s 8 Alternatives to College were fresh in my mind. Despite being alive for close to 20 years, I can’t even comprehend choosing one path for the rest of my life. I want to try a few things first. Specifically, 10 things, although I’m open to any number larger than that.

I didn’t really have any concrete rules for what could go on this list. They just had to be  challenging, fun, and/or a learning experience. They didn’t have to have the potential to be turned into a career, necessarily, but if I discovered what I wanted to do along the way, or somehow made any amount of money from them, that would be cool. I’m still happy with this list months after making it, so I thought I’d post it for the sake of accountability, and talk a little bit about why each item is there.

Instead of/Before College:

1. Start a Youtube Channel Video editing seems like a useful skill, and trying to create videos for other people to watch seems like it could be a fun way to acquire that skill. I’ve started preparing for this one already, but it’s slow going. Hopefully soon I’ll have more to show.

2. Learn Parkour (In progress!) This is not because of Assassin’s Creed. (Maybe very slightly.) I wanted one of these challenges to be very physical, and fitness has never been my forte, so this certainly a challenge for me. But, Abu Dhabi has a parkour community, and with weekly classes and meetups, so I’m trying to take advantage of that. It’s been hard, and fun, and I think I’m getting stronger. So far, so good.

3.Start a Business This one is pretty flexible. A ‘business’ could be selling something I’ve made or selling a service. With the tutoring I’ve been doing, I guess I could technically say I’ve already completed this one, but I still want to try some other things first. I’ve ended up subscribing to a few different entrepreneurial newsletters, so I’ve been persuaded that I should at least try it out. Even failing is a learning experience.

4. Travel and Learn a Language I want to learn Russian. I’ve wanted to learn Russian for years now. But I’m awful at sticking with it myself. So, I’m currently trying to arrange a trip to a Russian language school, which will force me to focus on the language and comes with the added bonus of actually being in Russia. We’ll see how things work out, I guess.

5. Work a Crappy Job My first choices would be a pizza place or a grocery store. I’m sure that working around so many people every day would be awful, but I’m pretty sure I need to learn how. Working a job that will probably be minimum wage will put every other job I have afterwards into perspective. Plus, I need to make money so that I’ll be able to…

6. Live in a Vehicle I’ve wanted to do this for years. I can’t really explain why, but if I never actually do it I’ll be really mad at myself until I die. So, what better time to live in a vehicle than when you’re young and stupid? I’m not even picky about the kind of vehicle. This summer I discovered the Westfalia van, so if I do the vanliving on my own, I’ll try to find one of those. If I can convince other people to live with me I’ll look into buses. It’s gonna be awesome either way.

7. Volunteer at a Nonprofit or Shelter Learning experiences abound! I feel like this one is pretty self-explanatory.

8. Make a Video Game I consider text-based RPGs and interactive fiction to be video games for the purpose of this challenge, which is probably what I’ll end up doing. I like video games. I especially like video games with great stories. So, I want to try making one. Plus, learning at least a small amount of coding can’t hurt.

9. Write and Edit a Novel I’ve written plenty of novels during Novembers. I’ve just never felt like any of them were good enough to merit editing. Someday I want to try editing one, though. So whether that means writing a novel in the future that I feel is worthy or reading through my old ones and picking one to edit, I’m determined to go through this allegedly grueling process someday.

10. Publish a Zine This one can be solo or a collaboration with others. I’ve wanted to make a zine pretty much since I first learned what they were, but I never had any good ideas for them. I have some ideas now, I’m just not sure when I’ll get to them. But at some point in the future you may be able to own a very cool zine made by me. How exciting is that?

This list doesn’t encompass everything I want to do, but it seems like a good start for exploring what I’m interested in and having some cool experiences. Hopefully in the future I can report some successes! Or interesting failures at the very least.