
Gap Year: The Growing Appeal of Not Going Right to College - tokenadult
http://moneyland.time.com/2012/10/05/gap-year-the-growing-appeal-of-not-going-right-to-college/
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mhartl
Stuff White People Like

#120 Taking a Year Off

 _When someone goes through a stressful experience they usually require some
time off to clear their head, regain focus, and recover from the pain and
suffering. Of course, in white culture these experiences are most often
defined as finishing high school, making it through three years of college, or
working for eleven months straight with only two weeks vacation and every
statutory holiday (“they don’t count because I had to spend them with
family.”)_

 _Though you might consider finishing school or having a good job to be
“accomplishments” many white people view them as burdens. As such, they can
only handle them for so long before they start talking about their need to
“take a year off” to travel, volunteer, or work abroad._

[http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2009/01/11/120-taking-a-
year...](http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2009/01/11/120-taking-a-year-off/)

~~~
jiggy2011
Yes, middle class white people from affluent western societies like to do
certain things that other people don't.

Why is the internet behaving like this is some new fact we were not previously
aware of?

~~~
ashray
I think it has more to do with the fact that affluent people from other
countries don't do the gap year thing and this is why it's seen as a 'white
phenomenon'.

I'm brown (from India) and have been traveling full time for the past 1 year
with my girlfriend (who is white, from Portugal) and we've rarely met any non-
white travelers even though there are plenty that can afford to.

I think it's just cultural. White people have stronger wanderlust.

(Back home everyone thinks I'm crazy :P)

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acabal
I think gap years are an excellent idea. If you can afford to travel for part
of it, do so.

I feel that I've grown the most as a person from all of the travel I've done.
Your perspective changes when you see how other people live and that the world
is a big and different place outside of your neighborhood and the latest US-
centric cable media coverage.

If you go backpacking you'll find that it's extremely common for
European/Australian/Kiwi people to do gap years, it's only unheard of in the
states.

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peter_l_downs
I'm now 3-months in to my own gap year and I'm loving it. I'm working in the
bay area, not teaching in an impoverished country, but it's been a huge kick-
in-the-ass to grow up. Dealing with rent, eating healthily, managing money —
it's been both more difficult and more interesting than I expected. I've
gained a lot of respect for my parents with regards to simply keeping a family
going. Not to mention the incredible things I'm learning from working and
socializing with people much older than me. If anyone else out there is
considering a gap year I say: go for it.

~~~
timjahn
"I've gained a lot of respect for my parents with regards to simply keeping a
family going"

Adding a child (or multiple children) to the mix gives "keeping a family
going" a whole new meaning. :)

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elmuchoprez
_With over 20 years of experience researching gap years, Bull has seen
students work everywhere from outdoor-education centers to Scottish castles to
elephant sanctuaries._

Let's be honest about what types of job opportunities there are for an
18-year-old with just a high school diploma, especially in this economy.
Working with elephants in a Scottish castle sounds great, but I think the odds
are a lot higher that you'll be cleaning the bathrooms at IHOP.

To be clear, it's not just the lack of education that's an issue, it's the
lack of experience doing anything. 18-year-olds are a freaking liability to
work with a lot of the time. They're often have unreliable schedules,
unreliable transportation, and with no real work references, it's hard to know
anything about their work ethic. Add on top of that that with these gap year
kids, you know they're only going to be working for you for a year, so it's
hard to justify investing too much in them.

~~~
BruceIV
This. The kids mentioned in the article are all _doing something_ with their
gap year, and that's all well and good, but far too many of the kids I went to
high school with just got part time jobs at Mickey D's and grumbled about how
much they wanted to move out of their parents' houses, without doing anything
toward that end.

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anu_gupta
I took a gap year in 1986, as did many of my friends at school. This might be
a new thing in the US, but it's fairly common in the UK, and has been for
decades.

~~~
vhf
Very common in Europe, yeah. I could even dare to say that it's mandatory for
young men here in Switzerland, since it's impossible for conscripts to go
straight from highschool to college.

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brm
Avoid a huge debt burden for the sake of prestige and college can be four gap
years. Do crazy things for course credit. Take professors in all sorts of your
interests out to lunch and ask them questions. Experiment. Mess up. Go around
the world in the summer, a semester, or for a year and have it sanctioned.
Whatever. All of it can inform your technical or practical pursuits and in
some cases change your path. College is Disneyland for hackers and
entrepreneurs. If you arrive at this view of it early, there's no reason to
delay it.

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samstave
Gap years are awesome - especially if you travel.

As a parent, I hope to instill the following to my two daughters:

Take a gap year or two (at most) Do not get married earlier than 25 Do not
have kids earlier than 30

You really really need to enjoy a gap year and enjoy your 20s, but do so in a
way that sets you up to be comfortable and happy for the rest of your life.

~~~
guyzero
So there's no need for a woman to have children at all, but saying "do not
have kids earlier than 30 isn't great advice. There's a measured correlation
between maternal age and the incidence of Down's Syndrome and other trisomies
- the longer a woman waits to have children, the higher the odds there will be
a problem. Which is not to say that all women should have children as young as
possible - it's just that there's no one blanket piece of advice that's
universally good.

~~~
dmorgan
> _There's a measured correlation between maternal age and the incidence of
> Down's Syndrome and other trisomies - the longer a woman waits to have
> children, the higher the odds there will be a problem._

The odds of which are still insignificant.

~~~
coryrc
1/50 at age 43 is insignificant?

<http://www.pregnancy-info.net/chromosomal_downsyndrome.html>

(however, it's a gradual thing and not much different at 32 versus 28, for
example)

~~~
dmorgan
> _1/50 at age 43 is insignificant?_

43 is quite far from 30.

> _however, it's a gradual thing and not much different at 32 versus 28, for
> example_

Exactly.

~~~
shard
You'd be surprised at how fast the 40's sneak up on you.

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orofino
As someone currently on an extended trip (1-2 years total, been travelling for
4+ months thus far) I'm not sure I'd actively encourage my kids to do this
before college. My wife and I left our corporate jobs after saving for 3 years
and paying off school loans.

We're able to spend a bit more and travel to more places as a result of having
"real" jobs before our departure. This also gave us a taste of our day to day
with our chosen professions and an excellent chance to make changes (based on
real experience) if desired.

That said, I'd certainly recommend it for just about anyone who is interested.
We've learned (basic) Spanish, tons of geography, and about the diversity of
cultures in South America. We've also seen many amazing sites. I really wish
this was more common for Americans.

~~~
jongyulin
Are you going to have a gap in your resume or are you working remotely? When
you take a gap year before, during, or even right after College, it's not a
big deal at all. Take a gap year after you start your career and you might
have to start explaining it to future employers.

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brackin
This is extremely common in Europe and the UK. It's definitely related to if
you afford it. My friends that went to private Schools are mostly taking gap
years and most of my friends that went to state schools are going to
University or going to work, etc. Interestingly those that went through the
state sector tend to know where they want to be going more, I don't want to
play to stereotypes but this could be because their were fewer constraints put
on them in terms of possible job paths.

It's most likely because in the UK we don't have high school, once you're 16
you finish school and can go to Sixth Form College where you choose 4 subjects
to focus on, none are compulsory and get deeper knowledge in what you're
interested in. Many people feel that after going through School and Sixth Form
they want to take some time to explore before University.

I've personally not gone to University this year and am working on a startup,
I can't call it a gap year as although I have traveled a fair amount to speak
at conferences, etc I'm still spending all of my time building a company. I
definitely believe whatever path people choose, it should be one that has a
rationale behind it over following the crowd or what they were taught to
believe. Although my Sixth Form did push the idea of University on students my
teachers personally agreed with my decision based on everything I'd been doing
over the last few years.

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martindale
I've gone seven years now without college, and I've found that my previously
brazen attitude about not needing college has been tempered with a deeper
understanding about what college will be able to give me, should I ever
attend. Of course, the needs might well be met by the oncoming wave of MOOCs,
but the idea that knowing what one _wants_ out of something (in this case,
college) before executing on it is a force multiplier to its effectiveness
applies to a great many other things. Why not here?

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flurie
This article makes me incredibly angry, and I think I've figured out why. This
sort of thing masquerades as a transgressive act, but it serves to reinforce
the notion that the lives of working adults are drudgery, and that, every so
often, we need a break from it all. People who can afford this sort of thing
are already in the highest caste in the US. And don't tell me that those
programs that provide stipends aren't seriously competitive - I'm willing to
bet the majority of those admitted don't need the money.

Here's a great example of such a program: Where There Be Dragons[1]. The very
name is racist and archaically antipodean. I'm sure it's a great honor to be a
Dragon, and the name really pops on that college application!

This is not an indictment of cultural exchange, but of hedonism and signalling
pretending to be any type of worthwhile exchange. I'm sure that some people do
meaningful work and somehow find themselves by switching tasks or locales. But
I'm willing to bet that more than a few are disingenuous, and this article
actively encourages that sort of behavior.

[1] <http://www.wheretherebedragons.com>

~~~
waterlesscloud
Playing devil's advocate for a minute here...

Does it really matter why they do it? Almost any teen would have an element of
hedonism in their choice to take a gap year. In fact, I'd hope that was the
case!

But does that matter? It still gets them out of their bubble. Sure, sure,
they'll be in a different bubble with the Dragons stuff, but a lot of people
need that safety net. But they're still out of whatever their environment was
and they see a different one. It's hard for me to see that as a bad thing.

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k-mcgrady
I think a gap year, even if you don't travel is a good idea. I'd just started
freelancing in my final year of high school so I deferred a place at
university to see what I could make of freelancing. After the year I decided
university wasn't for me (something I'd thought for years but as it was the
natural path people take I was going to do it anyway) and that I would be
better continuing freelancing and building a business. Three years on and it's
been one of the best decisions of my life.

Taking a year out gives you a good opportunity to evaluate the pros/cons of
further education. The last year or two of high school are spent being told
how important further education is, taking exams, and applying to
universities. Evaluating what would happen if you did something else never
really enters the thought process for most people. A gap year gives you time
to consider your options.

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DeepDuh
I'm a Swiss male. Since we all have to do 240 days military days minimum
(soldier grade, sometimes they force people to do more, 21 weeks is mandatory
as military academy, the rest can be split up), most of the men here take one
year off anyways. Plus we start school at 7, so most men begin university at
20. It's pretty late but I have to say that I think the additional level of
experience helped me tremendously to make the right choices later on. Plus I
met my wife in my year 'off'.

So yeah, IMO noone should give shit to those guys choosing to take that year
off. University education is the final stage before modern adulthood and it's
important to do the right choices - after primary and mid school where
everyone has been spoon fed it's really no surprise people need to take a bit
of time to know what they want and who they want to be.

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matthewowen
I find the (almost) complete lack of gap years in the US really weird, and
really unfortunate. I feel like people going on gap years is beneficial even
to those people who don't go on them - it adds a different (and on the whole
beneficial) dimension to first year student life.

~~~
shard
My guess is that the gap year concept is actually unusual in most of the
world. As far as I know it's very uncommon in Asia, where the closest thing is
studying abroad for a year.

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up_and_up
I took a gap year and joined the Americorps NCCC. I spent the year
volunteering all across the Southern states and served with people ages 18-24
from across the country on construction and education projects. It was a great
way to expand my limited understanding of the world and gain confidence. Had I
gone straight to college I would have missed out on a lot of learning. I think
gap years are a great idea but recommend doing something interesting,
productive or useful for yourself or others.

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entropy_
I did something similar. Though for me it was after college and before
starting on a career. Spent a year in Syria(I'm Lebanese) doing youth-work,
teaching, etc... It was definitely an extremely beneficial year for me. I
would recommend it for anyone as long as they can afford putting off making a
living for a year(while this may be a foregone conclusion in the west, many
people here have to start making money ASAP to support their parents, not the
other way around)

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furyg3
College? or Travel?

Do both! Study Abroad!

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TruthElixirX
So the idea is that college is too expensive so the government will help you
pay for college by letting you work for them for a year? Government solutions
to government created problems. Hooray.

~~~
dmorgan
> _Government solutions to government created problems._

And the college being expensive is a "government created problem" because?

~~~
tjic
Because government (a) tells everyone that they need college, (b) works to
make sure that huge floods of loan money are available.

~~~
enraged_camel
How does the government tell everyone that they need college? I'm curious.
Because last time I checked, there was only one group of people who tell
others that college is required, and that group was People With College
Degrees.

