Could Taking a Break Between High School and College Do More Harm Than Good?
Taking a break between high school and college can be beneficial for some; others not so much. I, however, fall into the other category. Not that I contemplate taking a break is a dangerous idea because I do not. It is not the break itself that is damaging; it is how long of a break you take between the two that ultimately determines your successfulness in college.
My future was all figured out, or so I believed. The military was going to be my ticket towards paying for college. I lacked any knowledge about student loans or how they worked. I assumed you needed to pay for college up front before you started each semester. I knew there was no way I could afford …show more content…
Bill to pay for college. Some friends of mine already went through boot camp; I told myself if they can do it so can I. All I needed was to graduate high school and I was all set. I only needed to pass a handful of classes to graduate; those were the only classes I focused on. I purposely failed the rest as I developed a disease called “Senioritis” and made the assumption that I didn’t need the rest so why even bother. Graduation came and I was excited, but at the same time I was scared since I would be leaving for boot camp in a few days. A few childhood friends of mine were also leaving for boot camp on the same day. One was even getting to be at the same boot camp as me. I just knew having someone from home would make it easier. Then the day came to leave for boot camp. Right before leaving for the airport, I decided that I wasn’t leaving for boot camp. I felt so guilty as my friend only enlisted since he seen that I did. My recruiter was not so understanding for he was losing out on a bonus he would have acquired if I just left for boot camp. He begged and pleaded with me to leave for boot camp, but my mind was already made up; I was coming back home. Once I made it home, I went back to my former employer and asked for my previous job back. My boss happily obliged and college was pushed …show more content…
Arrangements were made with the family; they were willing to help out with the kids when I needed it as long as they were available. Initially I wanted to start college in the fall of 2015, but I hadn’t even applied until August of that year. So I finally started college the spring semester of 2016. My enrollment starting out was to be half-time. I was enrolled in three classes that were to start on January 11th, 2016. I knew I needed a student loan, but it would not be processed before my first payment needed to be made. With the holidays and personal property taxes due in December, I dropped two of the three classes I was enrolled in. At that point I felt that I must jump through multiple hoops to make college happen for me. I was determined to keep moving forward; loan papers were filled out in plenty of time, so I would not be required to pay out of pocket. One more obstacle was thrown my way; since I was a first time borrower at MCC I was required to wait 30 days before any loan payments would be dispersed. This meant I needed to pay for all of my summer classes up front. Luckily I was able to keep my summer classes as no more obstacles have gotten in my way (knock on
Taking a break between high school and college can be beneficial for some; others not so much. I, however, fall into the other category. Not that I contemplate taking a break is a dangerous idea because I do not. It is not the break itself that is damaging; it is how long of a break you take between the two that ultimately determines your successfulness in college.
My future was all figured out, or so I believed. The military was going to be my ticket towards paying for college. I lacked any knowledge about student loans or how they worked. I assumed you needed to pay for college up front before you started each semester. I knew there was no way I could afford …show more content…
Bill to pay for college. Some friends of mine already went through boot camp; I told myself if they can do it so can I. All I needed was to graduate high school and I was all set. I only needed to pass a handful of classes to graduate; those were the only classes I focused on. I purposely failed the rest as I developed a disease called “Senioritis” and made the assumption that I didn’t need the rest so why even bother. Graduation came and I was excited, but at the same time I was scared since I would be leaving for boot camp in a few days. A few childhood friends of mine were also leaving for boot camp on the same day. One was even getting to be at the same boot camp as me. I just knew having someone from home would make it easier. Then the day came to leave for boot camp. Right before leaving for the airport, I decided that I wasn’t leaving for boot camp. I felt so guilty as my friend only enlisted since he seen that I did. My recruiter was not so understanding for he was losing out on a bonus he would have acquired if I just left for boot camp. He begged and pleaded with me to leave for boot camp, but my mind was already made up; I was coming back home. Once I made it home, I went back to my former employer and asked for my previous job back. My boss happily obliged and college was pushed …show more content…
Arrangements were made with the family; they were willing to help out with the kids when I needed it as long as they were available. Initially I wanted to start college in the fall of 2015, but I hadn’t even applied until August of that year. So I finally started college the spring semester of 2016. My enrollment starting out was to be half-time. I was enrolled in three classes that were to start on January 11th, 2016. I knew I needed a student loan, but it would not be processed before my first payment needed to be made. With the holidays and personal property taxes due in December, I dropped two of the three classes I was enrolled in. At that point I felt that I must jump through multiple hoops to make college happen for me. I was determined to keep moving forward; loan papers were filled out in plenty of time, so I would not be required to pay out of pocket. One more obstacle was thrown my way; since I was a first time borrower at MCC I was required to wait 30 days before any loan payments would be dispersed. This meant I needed to pay for all of my summer classes up front. Luckily I was able to keep my summer classes as no more obstacles have gotten in my way (knock on