It’s not your typical path to post-high school study.

In January, Jonathan Blum flew to Turkey to look for a pottery studio where he could complete an apprenticeship.

He was introduced to a successful potter who also happens to be listed in the Guinness Book of Records for having the largest collection of human hair. The potter invited him to work in his studio for the next year.

“People should go see the world,” Blum said. “I think it’s natural to see lots of things. We’re a society that’s involved all around the world.”

Blum, who graduates today from Free State High School, has long had a fascination with other parts of the world.

His father, psychologist Robert Blum, traveled to Bosnia in the mid-1990s to conduct research. The family took in an exchange student from Bosnia when Blum was in sixth grade, and his family traveled to Bosnia when he was in eighth grade.

Because of proximity and overlapping cultures, Blum became interested in Turkey. He spent his junior year of high school as an exchange student there in Izmir, a city of 3 million people.

He became fluent in Turkish by immersing himself in the culture.

“It’s a big country that has a lot of variety of places and people,” Blum said.

Jonathan Blum plays a balama, a stringed instrument from Turkey. The Free State High School senior intends to return to Turkey after graduation today

He said he especially liked the Turkish lifestyle, which he said was more laid back than life in the United States.

It was clear to Blum’s friends that the experience was a defining point in his life.

“He seemed very changed in his outlook on life,” said Josh Gaston, a friend since elementary school and another FSHS graduating senior. “He was very mature.”

Blum was fascinated by the pottery he saw in Turkey and decided to return there after high school to learn the trade.

He flew back in January for his scouting trip. That’s when he met Galip Korukchu, a potter who is best known for his collection of hair.

He cuts locks of women’s hair when they visit his studio and takes their name and phone number. Once a year, he selects a hair donor to receive free pottery classes.

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But it’s the pottery that will bring Blum to Korukchu’s shop in Avanos, in central Turkey, during the next year.

Korukchu produces two types of pottery — some used by Turkish villagers to transport water and others made available to the tourists who make pilgrimages to the ancient Christian sites in central Turkey.

While Blum is there, he hopes to perfect his Turkish, go sailing and take lessons on playing the balama, a native stringed instrument.

After the year, he’d like to start college, either in the United States or abroad.

Blum’s nontraditional after-school plans don’t surprise Gaston.

“He’s a very adventurous person,” Gaston said. “This is his own thing. He always talks about doing his own thing.”

Blum said he didn’t plan to make pottery a career path but more of a hobby that could earn him some extra money from time to time.

“I just like doing things that are useful and beautiful at the same time,” he said. “I think that’s an important part of life.”