My Thanksgiving starts Wednesday night and goes until Sunday breakfast so it isn’t technically over yet but, for the first time since Wednesday, I’ve found some time to steal away a reflect a little.

I am thankful to the nth degree for the opportunities I have stumbled upon, mentorship I have received, friendships I have made, and mistakes I have clumsily recovered from in the last year.

Earlier this month the deadline for notifying Barnard if I was going to return to school this spring came and went. I always intended on taking at least a year off but, as this date was marked on my calendar, it did give me pause and seemed important – to what end I am uncertain.

My life has changed a lot since deciding not to return to school. I have grown apart from many of my college friends, something I regret and am trying to rectify, I have grown closer to many people from the tech and startup world who I admire deeply, and I’ve learned enough about what I need from a friendship to identify people who don’t fit the bill early on.

Work has been inspiring, motivating, and occasionally infuriating. But, the maxim I relied on when determining whether to leave school holds true – I am learning more now then I ever did in a college classroom…and I’m not paying $40,000+ for it.

So, I missed the deadline and chances are that I will miss the next one. I still do intend to return to school eventually. There are too many classes I want to take, and professors I want to work with, to not have that goal. That said, I am thankful that I am becoming comfortable identifying myself as a college dropout because, let’s be honest, that’s what I am.