Remember high school? Remember graduating high school? Were
you ready to declare what you want to do for the rest of your life at that
young age?
I know I wasn’t.
That is why I just cannot understand how we put so much
pressure on high school graduates to go away to college, knowing what they want
to do. Most people at that young age
have not had enough life experience to know what they truly want to do in their
future.
When I went away to college, I had absolutely no idea what I
was supposed to be doing. I seemed to
like all kinds of subjects and had no idea of what I wanted out of college, and
honestly I still don’t. From personal experience
I contest that the age that we expect people to go to college could be too
young.
I recently heard of something called a gap
year program, and I feel as though this is one step toward a better outlook
at the age we expect people to go to college.
A gap year program is a program abroad for people who feel as though
they need to wait before going away to college, but they don’t want to stay in
the same place they have been their whole lives. It is a way for them to gain a little life
experience before investing their time and money into college.
It is important for a person to have some life experience
beyond their norm. It assures that they
have some background to help them decide what the best fit is for them in
regards to their future. I think with
programs such as the gap year, we can offer graduates a broader range of
options. Many people feel extreme
pressure to go away to college immediately, but it is important to let them
know that college can wait if it is not the right time for them.
I had never heard of the gap year program before and I think it's a great idea. Personally, I came to college thinking I knew exactly what I wanted to do and then after two years of being miserable in that major I finally decided to change it because I wanted to take my life in a different direction. I think if I had taken time off before making the big decisions of college, I wouldn't have wasted my time in the wrong major, I could have been enjoying a trip abroad! Hopefully the concept of the gap year will catch on and help students figure out what they truly want to do for the rest of their lives.
ReplyDeleteI could not agree with you more. I had no idea that I wanted to get out of college when I first got here. I even took last semester off to try and figure out where I want to go with my life.
ReplyDeleteI wish this was the norm to take a year off and find yourself. But kids are pressured to, and often feel that they have to head right to college even if they are having doubts and are not sure what they want to do going forward.