Taking Time Off
On the first day of class, many peoples’ minds fast-forward to the special day of graduation. We all tend to focus mainly on the outcome of things when we embark on a journey, which may be detrimental because we end up forgetting about the present. The people who guide students through these moments in their lives are always encouraging them to continue education and to follow in the steps that have worked for many, however, not really for all. It’s known that most students go into college not knowing exactly what to study, which can be a good thing because they can push themselves by trying different fields while studying. In contrast, college may sometimes seem as validation for most. Students are only applying because it is what everyone around them is doing or because their parents would not see it any other way. The question of whether or not go to college straight after high school isn’t even an option to many students because of that sole fact of following the steps of life that we have all constructed for ourselves. Many should consider breaking this cycle by taking a gap year or two. A gap year is exactly what students may need, not only for a break from the books, but to be faced with …show more content…
It would be a point that would help students stand out from a pile of applicants who simply chose the traditional path from high school straight to college. In the United States, gap years have only recently picked up because in the past, taking a gap year seemed like a waste of time. Now even Harvard University “which has nearly a 98 percent graduation rate, pioneered the gap year trend among Ivy League schools by recommending to incoming freshmen that they consider taking time off before starting their studies” reporting back with the results “uniformly positive”
On the first day of class, many peoples’ minds fast-forward to the special day of graduation. We all tend to focus mainly on the outcome of things when we embark on a journey, which may be detrimental because we end up forgetting about the present. The people who guide students through these moments in their lives are always encouraging them to continue education and to follow in the steps that have worked for many, however, not really for all. It’s known that most students go into college not knowing exactly what to study, which can be a good thing because they can push themselves by trying different fields while studying. In contrast, college may sometimes seem as validation for most. Students are only applying because it is what everyone around them is doing or because their parents would not see it any other way. The question of whether or not go to college straight after high school isn’t even an option to many students because of that sole fact of following the steps of life that we have all constructed for ourselves. Many should consider breaking this cycle by taking a gap year or two. A gap year is exactly what students may need, not only for a break from the books, but to be faced with …show more content…
It would be a point that would help students stand out from a pile of applicants who simply chose the traditional path from high school straight to college. In the United States, gap years have only recently picked up because in the past, taking a gap year seemed like a waste of time. Now even Harvard University “which has nearly a 98 percent graduation rate, pioneered the gap year trend among Ivy League schools by recommending to incoming freshmen that they consider taking time off before starting their studies” reporting back with the results “uniformly positive”