This morning before leaving for school I saw an interesting topic being discussed on the TODAY show. It was about students taking a year off from school after graduation before entering college. It is known as the Gap year. The specific reason for most students is the feeling of being burnt out. I totally agree with this Gap year. Except I personally think I only needed a semester off. I think 6 months is enough time to take off. A whole year may be a set back. The article, Should your child have a ‘gap year’ before college? Explains fully what this ‘gap year’ is, and provides excellent tips for parents and future college bound students.
I started college right out of high school. I graduated in June 2002 and started Community College in September of 2002. If I could go back and do things differently I would, simply because I experienced the burnt out feeling a year after. If I would have taken the break initially, I probably would have had a clearer state of mind. I always knew I wanted to attend college, but my goals were not as clear. During my first semester I was not sure if I wanted to be a teacher yet. I started by taking all my gen Ed courses, and then decided to study elementary education.
Once I discovered I wanted to be a teacher, I attended one more semester and then took a semester off. I still took one class, but only once a week. I thought I had all the time in the world. Boy was I WRONG. If I would have known I would still be in school 6 years later I would have picked up the pace.
sipala1 said,
April 29, 2008 @ 6:52 pm
I think the article is interesting. Many college students, as the article points out, do not stay in school and drop out after the first year. This may be due because it is not at the time a desire of theirs, but rather an expectation of their parents. There could be many other reasons, such as, they may want some time to explore, travel, and create for themselves real life experiences. I think “Gap Year” is a great idea. I took this concept to a whole other level. I took gap years, by returning to school at the age of 54. Hey, but it just goes to show, it’s never too late.