Although it’s typically expected, senior Michelle Yochum is not starting college in the fall. Instead, she will take time off before one day attending school to get her basic college courses finished for education.
“I am planning to take a year off, because I need to work full time to support myself and afford an apartment and groceries,” Yochum said.
Yochum also has other plans in mind for her future besides not going to college yet. She wants to help others by becoming a church minister.
“Working and doing all my ministry work takes up all my time,” Yochum said. “I thought about going to college for years and years, and then it’s just like one thing popped after another. And college wasn’t in the plans for me grade-wise and work-wise.”
Although her family and friends encourage her to go to college and live up to her parents’ expectations, Yochum decided to make a final decision to take time off. Others around her say it will be hard to go back to school after taking a break.
“I had a very hard decision to make, because I had so many people encouraging me to go and [extend my education],” Yochum said. “There are all these statistics that if you don’t go [to college] then you are kind of screwed, and that you will never go back. I will go back but not right away.”
Yochum’s decision to not go to college is based on her parents move to Florida, and her sisters live nowhere close to her.
“My mom is not happy about it, and neither is my dad,” Yochum said. “They both went to college, but they also stopped eventually. So they don’t want me to [do the same because of the struggles they went through].”
According to Yochum, Garland is where she feels God has called her to be in the ministry to work. She feels she must stay here instead of making the move to Florida.
“It would be easier emotionally and physically [to move with her parents],” Yochum said. “Living in Garland [is easy because] it’s home, it’s natural and it’s safe. I do encourage people to go to college, even though I am taking a year off because of my circumstances.”