Beyond the Norm
Beyond the Norm
Series: Stories in Motion
Goal: To be a space to capture stories that are still in motion, still becoming, and still being discovered.
TLDR: Beyond the Norm. Stories in Motion.
1. What if the "normal path" isn't your path?
We grew up with a script school, college, more school. But what if there’s another way? One late-night idea led us to trade a traditional senior year for a life-changing adventure in Taiwan.
2. It all started with one question: “Why not?”
We didn’t drop out… we logged in from halfway across the world. Online classes, backpacks, and bold trust from those who believed in us. Sometimes that’s all you need to believe in yourself.
3. No map, no plan, just motion.
Planning felt impossible. But piece by piece, doors opened. We didn’t know exactly what we were doing, but we just knew we had to try. Courage grows in the doing.
4. Real learning lives beyond the classroom.
Taiwan taught us more than school ever could: how to get lost and still be okay, how to ask for help in new languages, how to see beauty in the unexpected.
5. Growth isn’t a place. It’s a mindset.
This was more than a trip. It was a shift in how we saw the world… and ourselves. You don’t need to cross oceans to live boldly. You just need to ask: What if?
Table of Contents
When We Stepped Outside the Lines: How a Wild Idea Led to Taiwan
The Power of Asking “Why Not?”
Planning an Adventure That Had No Roadmap
Lessons You Can’t Learn in a Classroom
Travel Isn’t Just Geography ~ It’s Growth
Final Thoughts
When We Stepped Outside the Lines: How a Wild Idea Led to Taiwan
For as long as I can remember, life came pre-written. Seven hours of school a day for twelve years, then straight into college. It was just... what you did. No one questioned it. It was the “normal” path. But somewhere along the way, I started to wonder — who decided this was the only way? And what if they were wrong?
The truth is, there is no one right way to live. Life doesn’t come with a single blueprint. It’s shaped by the risks we take, the questions we dare to ask, and the courage we find to follow a different rhythm.
My senior year of high school was when I stopped following the usual script. My friend and I had a crazy idea — one of those half-serious, late-night conversations that somehow kept resurfacing. What if we finished our final year online... and traveled the world instead?
It sounded ridiculous at first. No one we knew had ever done anything like it. But that’s what made us pause. Maybe the only reason no one had done it was because no one thought they could.
So we decided to try.
The Power of Asking “Why Not?”
We didn’t want to skip school — we just wanted to do it differently. So we enrolled in online courses through a nearby college, packed our bags, and bought a plane ticket to Taiwan.
At every step, there were hurdles. Our school was hesitant at first, but once they realized we’d still be studying, just from another timezone, they came on board. Our parents — thankfully — were immediately supportive, even if they thought we were slightly insane. They trusted us to lead our own adventure, offering guidance without control. That trust changed everything.
When people believe in you, you start to believe in yourself, too.
Planning an Adventure That Had No Roadmap
Once we had permission, we had to figure out the hardest part — the logistics. Where would we go? How could we afford it? Who could we stay with? We reached out to relatives, friends, friends of friends, asked every connection we had. Most doors didn’t open. But we kept knocking. Eventually, we found our “yes” — a place in Taiwan that welcomed us.
When we bought our tickets, reality hit. We stared at each other and said, “What did we just do?” We were excited... and terrified.
We didn’t speak Chinese. We’d never traveled this far without family. And yet — we were ready.
Lessons You Can’t Learn in a Classroom
Taiwan was more than just a destination. It was a turning point.
We learned how to navigate unfamiliar streets, how to ask for help in a language we didn’t know, how to trust ourselves in moments of uncertainty. We found beauty in the everyday — steaming bowls of noodles, temple bells echoing at dusk, strangers who helped us just because they could.
We made mistakes. We got lost. We laughed a lot.
And somewhere in the chaos of it all, we started to become who we really were — outside the bubble of what we were expected to be.
Travel Isn’t Just Geography ~ It’s Growth
This wasn’t a vacation. It was an education. And not just in culture or language, but in courage, in creativity, in connection.
We realized you don’t need a classroom to learn. You don’t need permission to live differently. And you don’t need to wait for the “right time” to chase something meaningful.
Sometimes, you just have to buy the ticket.
Final Thoughts
If you’re reading this and wondering whether you could ever do something like this — my answer is yes. You don’t have to go to Taiwan. You don’t even have to leave your country. But you can ask yourself: What would happen if I stepped outside the lines? What might I discover?
There are so many ways to live a life.
And sometimes, the best ones begin with a wild idea... and a little bit of faith.
— Making Us
