In my post about going back to school this fall and the favor I've seen in the process, I said I would expound on why I'm glad I spent two years out of school. Now I know I don't always follow up on things I say I'll write "more on later" but I am for this.
Let me begin with my plans as a high school senior.
In high school I had quite a few changes of plans regarding what I would do after word. For a while, I planned to go to Ball State. That fell off the wagon for a few reasons that I can't remember now. A local University was my next consideration, but something kept me from deciding to go for that full fledge.
The plan then became to go to a 6 month school at a Christian organization (more for personal growth than academic gain). I prayed about that more and realized that I didn't actually feel like God was pointing me to that (although I'm sure if I had gone, it would have been great). When I let that go, I didn't have a replacement plan. I had a (very) part time job, but a job nonetheless and I wasn't under pressure to decide what to do right away.
After some time of having absolutely no solid plan, I decided I would go to the International House of Prayer in Kansas City and do a 6 month internship. I planned on that for about 7 months until I did a lot of thinking and praying about it and decided not to go. I was a little afraid at the time that by not going, I wasn't doing the right thing. But I was also confident, because I knew that by either deciding to go or not to go, I wasn't stepping outside of God's will. Largely through that, I learned that life and God's will is more about how we live and not always what we do. (Here's a post I wrote about that).
By this time, I had a different job with better hours and pay. Again, wasn't in a hurry to make any big decisions. The idea of going to school again had begun to cross my mind though. I missed learning things I couldn't teach myself, taking tests, carrying a backpack with a notebook in it and all that nerdy stuff I happen to like. So, I looked into applying at the two local higher education institutions that I would actually want to go to. I got accepted into both, but chose the less costly one (at least for now- we'll see how it goes). That brings us to right now.
My current, but flexible plan is to attend the community college until I earn an associates in Liberal Arts, then switch to the nearby University and get a bachelor's in Liberal Arts with a Teaching Certification to teach high school english, which seems like something I'd like to do.
Two years ago, I wouldn't have known a great deal of things I now know about myself and about life in general. While I'm sure I would have learned some of those things (plus some others) in college, I wouldn't trade what I've learned in and from my time off these past few years. Not going to college right out of high school to satisfy a social standard (which is what it would have been for me) has been one of the best choices of my educational career.
I've got to say, I owe my appreciation for gap years largely to my parents for not pressuring me into any one thing before I was ready to do so. I realize that not everyone has parents who would be so gracious about their child not going to college and that's too bad.
Now, I get to go to school because I want to and have the motivation to, not because it's just the next thing. Because of time off, I was free to live, observe, and find out what I wanted rather than conforming to the cultural norm just to do it. For some, going to college right away might be the best thing for them, but for me, taking time off to stop, think, and decide was absolutely wonderful. Going to college this fall, I don't feel like, as I've heard some people describe being in college, I'm "waiting for real life to start". Because of taking that time off, I think I've got the best of both worlds. I'm already living in the real world and I get to learn about it in new ways.
Win Win.
Let me begin with my plans as a high school senior.
In high school I had quite a few changes of plans regarding what I would do after word. For a while, I planned to go to Ball State. That fell off the wagon for a few reasons that I can't remember now. A local University was my next consideration, but something kept me from deciding to go for that full fledge.
The plan then became to go to a 6 month school at a Christian organization (more for personal growth than academic gain). I prayed about that more and realized that I didn't actually feel like God was pointing me to that (although I'm sure if I had gone, it would have been great). When I let that go, I didn't have a replacement plan. I had a (very) part time job, but a job nonetheless and I wasn't under pressure to decide what to do right away.
After some time of having absolutely no solid plan, I decided I would go to the International House of Prayer in Kansas City and do a 6 month internship. I planned on that for about 7 months until I did a lot of thinking and praying about it and decided not to go. I was a little afraid at the time that by not going, I wasn't doing the right thing. But I was also confident, because I knew that by either deciding to go or not to go, I wasn't stepping outside of God's will. Largely through that, I learned that life and God's will is more about how we live and not always what we do. (Here's a post I wrote about that).
By this time, I had a different job with better hours and pay. Again, wasn't in a hurry to make any big decisions. The idea of going to school again had begun to cross my mind though. I missed learning things I couldn't teach myself, taking tests, carrying a backpack with a notebook in it and all that nerdy stuff I happen to like. So, I looked into applying at the two local higher education institutions that I would actually want to go to. I got accepted into both, but chose the less costly one (at least for now- we'll see how it goes). That brings us to right now.
My current, but flexible plan is to attend the community college until I earn an associates in Liberal Arts, then switch to the nearby University and get a bachelor's in Liberal Arts with a Teaching Certification to teach high school english, which seems like something I'd like to do.
Two years ago, I wouldn't have known a great deal of things I now know about myself and about life in general. While I'm sure I would have learned some of those things (plus some others) in college, I wouldn't trade what I've learned in and from my time off these past few years. Not going to college right out of high school to satisfy a social standard (which is what it would have been for me) has been one of the best choices of my educational career.
I've got to say, I owe my appreciation for gap years largely to my parents for not pressuring me into any one thing before I was ready to do so. I realize that not everyone has parents who would be so gracious about their child not going to college and that's too bad.
Now, I get to go to school because I want to and have the motivation to, not because it's just the next thing. Because of time off, I was free to live, observe, and find out what I wanted rather than conforming to the cultural norm just to do it. For some, going to college right away might be the best thing for them, but for me, taking time off to stop, think, and decide was absolutely wonderful. Going to college this fall, I don't feel like, as I've heard some people describe being in college, I'm "waiting for real life to start". Because of taking that time off, I think I've got the best of both worlds. I'm already living in the real world and I get to learn about it in new ways.
Win Win.