By Sam Harris

People back home will sometimes ask me how life in Kentucky is going, and it's always hard to pinpoint an answer. It's challenging, it's rewarding and it's a huge blessing.

The other day I was thinking about how I have always loved the saying "I want to live, not just survive." Growing up I always felt like everyone around me just survived. They went to college right after high school because that's "what you do" and then they got married. I’m sure this is truly some people's dream, and for those people I say, good for you! But for me, I wanted more from life than just that. I wanted to get out there and really live!

I had depression for the majority of high school so I think because I was so deep into "survival" mode, I craved the living part. Once I got help for my depression and was able to see above the water again, my world started clearing up. I thirsted for a life where I could say I was living well.

I am not against college but I knew that for me going to college straight out of high school was not my path. It took me a while to figure out my next steps but two years after high school I found CAP. I trusted my gut and moved six hours away from everything that I knew and loved.   And I gotta say, I have never made a better decision.  Being in Kentucky has given me a whole new perspective on my life and who I am.  The amount of adventures I have been able to cram into the past five months is astounding. I'm no longer surviving, I'm living.

Sam is serving as an AmeriCorps Early Childhood Educator and living in the Mount Vernon Volunteer Community. Opinions expressed in volunteer blogs are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of CAP or the Volunteer Program.