In a recent post by The Iranian, she discusses the downside
of high schoolers rushing into college, costing themselves tens of thousands of
dollars on generic liberal arts degrees.
“… but it’s important to inform our kids about the implications and consequences of attending college. It shouldn’t be somewhere they go to hide away from fear of what the world has to offer and it certainly shouldn’t be somewhere that provides them with less real world experience and knowledge than other options.”
Especially among American middle and
upper class families, all of high school, hell even middle school, is about getting
accepted into college. Every decision and performance is framed as series of
behavior leading up to and affecting future success. With college acceptance
rates lower than ever, there is an insurmountable amount of pressure on young
people. Many join band, Varsity soccer, student government, and take four AP
classes, not necessarily because of a genuine passion, but because they believe
it will affect college admissions. Needless to say, by the time students reach
their senior year, they are burned out. Maybe they’ve been accepted to their
dream school, maybe they’ve settled for something less, but now many think to
themselves “now what?” After spending the last few years focused on the
singular goal of getting into college, many lack the time for self-reflection
to explore what they are really passionate about.
Having graduated high school in Europe,
I was lucky to be surrounded by another paradigm – the question was not “what
college are you going to?” but rather “are you planning on going straight to college
or taking a gap year?” Probably one-third of my graduating class took gap years.
My decision to do so was invaluable, not only in my ability to travel, gain
fluency in French, and explore my interests, but I believe it made me a better
college student. I came to college with a newfound independence, confidence,
and energy for learning I never expected. As astutely put by Ethan Knight, the
Executive Director of the American Gap Association:
The gap-year phenomenon is still not as popular
in the U.S. as it is in Europe, but it is gaining popularity. About 40,000 Americans participated in gap year programs in 2013, an increase of nearly 20%
since 2006. Colleges are catching onto the potential benefits of gap years on
their students too. Tufts University recently started a program that will
provide full aid for certain accepted students interested in taking gap years.
Princeton and University of North Carolina also grant gap year need-based aid,
removing the financial barriers to make a gap year more feasible for
cash-strapped students. While taking a gap year isn’t for everyone, the
automatic high school-to-college pathway should be challenged, and it is a
concept that I hope gains even more traction in the U.S.
"One of the things I see students frequently asking and coming up with is what success looks like to them. We’re handed definitions of success by our peers, by culture, by media, by school, by parents, and we’re not asked what it looks like for us. A gap year asks you to consider that question."
I think that it’s amazing that you took a gap year and that the practice will hopefully become more widespread in the US as university costs are rising and the payoff of higher education is diminishing. It’s really important for students to ask themselves if college is the correct decision for themselves on a personal level. College nowadays is definitely not needed to do well in life, in fact most of those who the population would consider the best off dropped out of college to pursue passions and interests. I truly think that the world would be a better place if it was filled with people doing what they loved and believed in instead of doing what society made them believe was important.
ReplyDeleteHad I known of a gap year being an option, I think that would have been a very good experience for me. I came to USC as an Undecided major and still have no idea what I hope to do after graduation, though I have declared some areas of study. I especially resonated with Ethan Knight's quote about how success is defined. I have only ever experienced American education and I can personally attest to the sort of treadmill feel to it. In middle school and high school, the teachers and administrators and competitive peers, are all sort of increasing the speed and the incline and everyone talks about how prepared you are going to be and how this is all what the real world will look like Then college is like being off the treadmill and on a track and your legs are wobbly but you're still just running in circles and you may not even know why, but everyone else is, too, so you keep going. And finally, they put you in the real world and tell you to run the race but there's no track and no treadmill, the path isn't even paved, and you realize you aren't prepared at all, you've just been faking it.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I am very afraid of and exactly the reason I am studying abroad all of next year, sort of a gap year in the middle or my college experience. You can't become who you are supposed to be or know what you really want in life just running on treadmills and tracks for years. (Have I overused this metaphor, yet? Probably.)
I think as a society and especially in the U.S., we need to be more open to less structured life paths. I can definitely see in your how your travel experiences and studies abroad have made you into an amazing well-rounded, informed global citizen, and I hope to have similar growth throughout the next year.
Great post! What you said in your post was spot on. In the US, it seems as though taking a gap year after high school is not an option at all. I certainly never even gave it the thought, and I do not think anyone from my high school took a gap year as well. Here, gap years are more accepted when it comes to life after college. If one wants to go to grad school, sure! Take a gap year so you are not burned out and can gain some experience and independence. I think a gap year would have definitely helped me do better in school and be a better person overall. Students in the US are stuck to such a high standard of living the standard meaningful life. That is, they go to school all their lives with a plan of what they want to become, they go to high school and work hard to get into a good college, go to college to get a good job, start working, get married, and the rest is history. It would be great if more American students knew that they had this option of a gap year. I think it would increase productivity in colleges and inspire more students to be passionate in what they study and will pursue. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYour take on the escalating pressure of high school for college preparation really resonates with me. I currently work in a handful of high schools around Los Angeles, establishing chapter clubs where students can join and learn about human rights, and international children’s issues. It is overwhelming to note how many students attend club meetings and are eager to obtain positions within the club simply because of a boost on their resume for college. It is worrisome that there are “right” decisions on what to do and how to act in order to be perceived in the right light for college admissions. This is detrimental to the development of the student, who should be exploring all of their interests and discovering which they would like to pursue. This should occur on the basis of their desires, not college admissions offices’ interests. I am in full support of gap year programs, not only for relinquishing this pressure from high school seniors and incoming college freshman, but also for creating a space where young students have the freedom to discover their passions. It was so interesting to read about your experience!
ReplyDeleteI'm graduating this semester and one thing I am taking away from my undergraduate education is that I have to define success for myself. If we let others define success for us, then when we get there we won't even know it as success because it's not success to us. This is something I will definitely continue to work on... even though I am going to grad school... continuing society's definition of success.
ReplyDeleteI took a gap semester in Beijing before coming to USC as a spring admit and it was one of the best decisions of my life. Initially I was hesitant, because not many of my close friends were doing gap years and it felt like it was more so out of necessity to attend SC than my own decision. Like you, having the chance to study a language in a foreign city, experience renting my own apartment for the first time and meeting all kinds of new people gave me a newfound sense of confidence that relaxed my nerves -- it almost felt like a practice run for college. In some places "taking time off" can also sound like a euphemism for unemployment or unexciting, but having the ability to designate time purely for your own personal development is such an underrated luxury, and I couldn't recommend the experience more.
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