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Should I take a break after college?

September 26th, 2006 at 04:37 pm

Today in my ECC class, my teacher said that there's eight differents options to choose from at the end of our high school and one of them is a gap year. I was really attracted to this idea of taking a year off to do whatever you want to do and to think about life. I'm not in college yet though.

I really want to take a year off from studies to travel. I think it'll be so fulfilling to achieve this... I'll probably take a year off to work in London for three or four months, travel Europe, go back home and go to Japan to work or teach English in Africa. It'll be really great. My dad said he's okay with it and my financial councelor said otherwise, that I won't be with people my age often. I know I'll meet different ages group, but I don't know...

Will the students in University accept me if I'm two or three years older than them?

I have set up a travel fund for three years already, I'll get to travel almost every summer if I have time, but it seems that when I go straight to University, I'll be going to summer school to catch up my credit scores which I'm really worry about.

Posted in School | 7 Comments »

7 Responses to “Should I take a break after college?”

  1. JanH Says:
    September 26th, 2006 at 04:52 pm

    My daughter stayed out one year and worked. Then her first year was abbreviated due to health reasons. She was worried about people judging her because she is "behind." But I haven't heard that she has had any real problems. She has a lab partner that is older than her--a transfer kiddo--and other people younger that she has met in classes. I think there are now so many people that are in for longer periods, start later, have to work and take less classes. I think that your world experiences, like her work and living away from home experiences, will just be a different pathway and maybe a maturing one compared to some others.

  2. Dido Says:
    September 26th, 2006 at 04:55 pm

    Well, here's the perspective of one college professor. I often think that a year off is a good idea--especially if you are doing something OTHER than living at home and working at the same job you had in high school. Living on your own gives you a chance to explore and learn more about yourself--a goal as important as academic and career-oriented learning. Students who have had time off, in my experience, tend to be more mature and focused and get more out of college--in part because they have a better idea of what they want to do career wise and are thus more goal-oriented. Students who know themselves and who have had more experiences are more confident and contribute more to the class and to their fellow students than those who are less experienced.

    You'll have to get feedback from someone else about the social acceptance by other students part!

  3. Dido Says:
    September 26th, 2006 at 04:58 pm

    One other thought: your social experiences as a result of being an "older" student will probably depend a lot on the type of college you go to. Some colleges (like the one where I teach now) are very homogenous in their student body--virtually everyone is between 18 and 22. Other colleges (like the one where I teach in the evening) have students with more diversity of background. If you go to school at a place like the latter (often larger and public schools are more diverse while small private schools may be more homogenous) you *might* have an easier time.

  4. baselle Says:
    September 26th, 2006 at 08:32 pm

    With the year off there are two schools of thought - "keep the momentum" school because since you've been in school for 13 years you should be good and warmed up, & the "fresh start" school where after 13 years you've grown stale and you need a recharge.

    I didn't take a year off between college and high school, but I had some friends that did - I remembered that we accepted them pretty well. Smile
    I did take a year off between college and grad school and I felt it really sharpened me up.

  5. amberfocus Says:
    September 27th, 2006 at 01:21 am

    Don't worry about the age difference if you take some time off. Your college classmates will be much more interested in what you've done than how much older you are.

    Also, you might friend more underclassmen if you're over 21 before they are. Wink
    Also keep in mind that there are also study abroad opportunities *in* college.

    ~mimi

  6. anonymous Says:
    September 27th, 2006 at 05:15 am

    Don't do it.

    You always have the option of taking off a year in the future, and a much better time is after your graduation from college.

    If you decide to take off, find out beforehand what are the rules of residency requirements if you plan to attend a local university - make sure you don't do something which requires that you pay out of state tuition.

    After you have your degree there will be so many interesting opportunities like Peace Corps or teaching english language classes overseas, that you really should concentrate on your education NOW, not later.

  7. T_I_N_A20 Says:
    September 27th, 2006 at 06:18 am

    JanH : I hope it'll help me decide on my future after my travel and working abroad. Thanks =D

    Dido : I'm going to college next year. After two years of college,I'm taking a year or two off to work abroad and do the things I never had the time to do. I really do hope it'll sharpened me up for me to go back to University and start studying hard. Thanks.

    baselle : Got it! momentum and fresh start. I'm going to college next fall, so my fresh start will be use already xD. I feel a lot more relieve now. Thanks.

    amberfocus : You took some time off betweek college and grad? Woah... That's like in between study xD. I'll be 21 by the time I come back after a year, or 22 after I come back after two years. Sure, I'll see what college has to offer from "study abroad".

    anonymous : You know comments like these change my mind really fast... I'll be graduating from college and I'll take a year or two off before I go back to my study. I've met people who finish college both pre-university and technique and they end up working in a restaurant or some sort that pays minimum wage... I don't want to end up like them, they never know what they want to do and I'm not 100% sure if Finance is what I really want to work in. I think traveling abroad will maybe help me choose what's best for me.

    My local University? I don't know which University I'll attend yet, but there's no age limit, and some do require you to be 21 if you come from elsewhere. And I repeat, I'm not doing it next year, I'll do it in three years in 2009 right after I graduate from college and before I go to University. Tuition... My teacher who teach us ECC told us that he took a year off to teach in Africa after he graduated from College and he's in University right now completing his degree. His tuition is the same as everybody else.

    I'm concentrating on my study now. I'm currently thinking what I want to do, but I'm not sure, so I thought to myself, if I take a year or two off from school "After college, after I got my pre-university degree in Commerce", I'm going to travel.


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