There was a mod for Oblivion called Alternative Start that allowed the player to venture into the world without being forced into the main quest. Are there any mods for Skyrim that are similar? It'd be awesome if I was not forced to be Dragonborn on every character. Thanks

Yes, and it is a very popular and well known mod

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/9557

haha awesome thank you so much! happy holidays!

Glad I could help!

And happy holidays to you too!