From the moment a student enters high school, college is a dominant topic teachers discusses for the next four years. Students are expected to have passing grades, participate in extracurricular activities and have a social life all while paying attention to college application deadlines.
When do we have time to figure out what we want to do with the rest of our lives?
Taking time off between high school and college can be a solution to all the worries and doubts one might have when barely coming out from high school. It serves as time to think about the different options that are out there.
There are many unconventional careers that can only be discovered by going out into the real world. The American Gap Association National Alumni Survey Report concluded that students take a gap year to get experience, mature, travel to other parts of the world and take a break from “the traditional academic track.”
While there are students who want to continue their education right away, some students want to take a year off for the sake of getting a break from school. As soon as students enter kindergarten, the seemingly never ending grind continues until twelfth grade.
The amount of stress school puts on a student can be damaging to one’s mental health. The transition from high school to college can be a good opportunity to take the break that is needed.
According to an article from Time Magazine, writer Katie Reilly referenced information from an American College Health Association survey on the effects of declining mental health on college students.
“Nearly 40 percent of college students said they had felt so depressed in the prior year that it was difficult for them to function, and 61 percent of students said they had ‘felt overwhelming anxiety’ in the same time period,” Reilly said.
Taking time off between high school and college doesn’t necessarily mean a student is giving up on their academic endeavors. College is always an option that someone can go back to, whether it be a year or two later; it happens all the time. What one can’t pass up is the opportunity to experience life.
