Are We Pushing Too Hard?

It took me eight years to graduate from college with a B.A. in Sociology. This is not normal. What we are supposed to do is graduate in four years. Because every kid knows what they want to do with their life when they are 17 years old, right? This is reasonable...or not.

In many countries other than ours, a gap year is the norm. Students graduate from high school and then take a year to travel, work, clear their head, sow their seeds, fulfill some sort of religious or familial obligation, or figure out what they want to do.

Many parents are concerned that this will lead to their child not going to college. Not true. In fact, not only do they still go to college, but they go with more of a laser focus and get better grades than they would have if they had gone directly from high school. Look it up. The studies are out there.

When I went to school, I entered as a psychology major, changed my major to English, and then changed it again to sociology. I graduated with every intention of going into federal law enforcement and then became a teacher. Because, duh... Teaching is actually very similar to law enforcement if you ask me.

So here I am, saving for my girls to go to college. I am married to a man who is currently studying for his MBA and I already have my MSEd. If my girls come to me and want to take a year off, will I let them? Yes. Will I still encourage them to further their education? Yes. In their own way and in their own time.