Jump to content

More Students Delaying Start Of College


S1ngh
 Share

Recommended Posts

More Students Delaying Start of College

By STEVE GIEGERICH

.c The Associated Press

Around the time her former high school classmates are cracking college textbooks, Perrin Ireland will head to Honolulu to assist in a research project with dolphins.

While they're brushing up for fall semester finals, Ireland plans to be in South America, taking Spanish lessons. The end of their freshmen year will find Ireland in Greece, studying Aegean art and creative writing.

It's what the English call the ``gap year,'' a traditional break between high school graduation. Prince William took his three years ago; royal Prince Harry began his gap year earlier this month.

And in America, it's becoming more commonplace among students well-off enough to take a year to indulge their interests.

``I guess I'm really in no rush to be done with college,'' said Ireland, who has put off the start of her education at Brown University. ``So I figured there was no harm to give myself an extra year to digest and explore.''

Not only are many colleges amenable to deferring admission for students like Ireland, some - such as Harvard University - actually recommend a year off before starting classes as a means to mature emotionally and intellectually.

``It's not that people find themselves in a year and then walk off happily into the sunset,'' said Gail Reardon, the owner of ``Taking Off,'' a private Boston-area counseling service that helps students, such as Ireland, plan sabbaticals.

``But it does start a process of learning skills and looking at yourself. It gives you the maturity, self-esteem and independ

ence to think outside the box. It's an evolution.''

Reardon said a gap year offers young people the first flush of freedom from parents, minus the academic obligations of higher education.

``For me, college wasn't my first time without a curfew,'' said Colin Hall, who co-authored ``Taking Time Off'' and who backpacked through Africa before attending school in the late 1990s.

Not all students use the year off to visit exotic places.

John Bloch of Cincinnati, an aspiring culinary arts major, is postponing his freshman year to spend 10 months as an AmeriCorps volunteer teaching underprivileged children, building homes for Habitat for Humanity and cutting trails for the National Park Service.

``It's just a personal choice of mine to help and support the country and learn more about myself, the community I live in and the United States as a whole,'' he said.

For students unable to raise the money, of course, skipping a year before starting college isn't an option. Reardon acknowledged that the gap years she helps to arrange attract ``middle and upper class kids by virtue that it does cost something.''

Drew Harry said the benefit of deferring his start at the Olin College of Engineering could never be measured in monetary terms.

After a year in Europe, Harry arrived at Olin's Needham, Mass., campus last fall more mature and eager to learn at an engineering school that opened its doors just two years ago. Olin also encourages incoming students to take a year off.

``It made the college transition a lot easier,'' said the Providence, R.I.-native. ``I could focus more on academics because I was more self-reliant. I could handle myself. I could get my laundry done and get groceries and stupid things like that.''

To guarantee they'll still be able to attend the school of their choice, Reardon and other counselors advise students taking a year off to go through the admissions pr

ocess prior to asking for a deferral.

Once that deferral is granted, they suggest spending the year pursuing areas of interest related to their college studies.

``I always recommend, don't take a year off, take a year on,'' said John Boshoven, a counselor in Ann Arbor, Mich. ``Don't count it as a year that is separate from your life, but connect to what you want to do the rest of your life.''

On the Net:

Taking Off: http://www.takingoff.net

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt


  • Topics

  • Posts

    • yeh it's true, we shouldn't be lazy and need to learn jhatka shikaar. It doesn't help some of grew up in surrounding areas like Slough and Southall where everyone thought it was super bad for amrit dharis to eat meat, and they were following Sant babas and jathas, and instead the Singhs should have been normalising jhatka just like the recent world war soldiers did. We are trying to rectifiy this and khalsa should learn jhatka.  But I am just writing about bhog for those that are still learning rehit. As I explained, there are all these negative influences in the panth that talk against rehit, but this shouldn't deter us from taking khanda pahul, no matter what level of rehit we are!
    • How is it going to help? The link is of a Sikh hunter. Fine, but what good does that do the lazy Sikh who ate khulla maas in a restaurant? By the way, for the OP, yes, it's against rehit to eat khulla maas.
    • Yeah, Sikhs should do bhog of food they eat. But the point of bhog is to only do bhog of food which is fit to be presented to Maharaj. It's not maryada to do bhog of khulla maas and pretend it's OK to eat. It's not. Come on, bro, you should know better than to bring this Sakhi into it. Is this Sikh in the restaurant accompanied by Guru Gobind Singh ji? Is he fighting a dharam yudh? Or is he merely filling his belly with the nearest restaurant?  Please don't make a mockery of our puratan Singhs' sacrifices by comparing them to lazy Sikhs who eat khulla maas.
    • Seriously?? The Dhadi is trying to be cute. For those who didn't get it, he said: "Some say Maharaj killed bakras (goats). Some say he cut the heads of the Panj Piyaras. The truth is that they weren't goats. It was she-goats (ਬਕਰੀਆਂ). He jhatka'd she-goats. Not he-goats." Wow. This is possibly the stupidest thing I've ever heard in relation to Sikhi.
    • Instead of a 9 inch or larger kirpan, take a smaller kirpan and put it (without gatra) inside your smaller turban and tie the turban tightly. This keeps a kirpan on your person without interfering with the massage or alarming the masseuse. I'm not talking about a trinket but rather an actual small kirpan that fits in a sheath (you'll have to search to find one). As for ahem, "problems", you could get a male masseuse. I don't know where you are, but in most places there are professional masseuses who actually know what they are doing and can really relieve your muscle pains.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use