When my daughter came to me and told me she wanted to take a gap year after high school, my head went into immediate panic mode. The whole “gap year” idea can conjure up pictures of your kid living in the basement playing video games for the next two decades. But is a gap year a bad idea?
The following is a post by MPFJ staff writer, Laurie Blank. Laurie is a blogger, freelance writer and mother of four. She’s psyched about teaching others how to create passive income sources like she’s done, so they can live the dream too. She shares powerful insights on her blog, Great Passive Income Ideas, that will show you how you can create passive income sources of your own.
What Exactly Does a Gap Year Entail?
In theory, when a student takes a gap year it’s in hopes that he or she will end the 12-month period with a clearer vision of how he or she wants college to pan out. A gap year can provide several benefits to students.
Time to Find Themselves
Graduating high school leads into uncertainty for many kids. As they leave the life of “high school student under parent’s roof/thumb”, they often begin to have questions:
- Who am I?
- What kind of life do I want to live?
- What are my goals and dreams?
These questions are all perfectly normal questions for high school graduates to ponder. Throwing them directly into college after high school doesn’t give them much time to figure out answers to these questions.
Time to Save for College
College is expensive—no one will argue that point. In fact, this College Data article shows that the 2018 average annual price for a public college was $25,290. The average price for private college tuition was double that.
If your child is worried about paying for college, a gap year may be the perfect solution. He or she can get a decent paying job and save, save, save so that they’ve got more money to pay for college expenses.
Hint: If you’re helping pay for college, this gives YOU more time to save as well. This is not a bad thing.
Time to Decide Whether or Not College is for Them
There is such a push these days for absolutely every student to get a degree. This is sad. Not every student wants to—or should—go to college.
If your son wants to be a plumber, why make him waste time and money on a college degree in business? If your daughter wants to be a stay-at-home mom, why not have her work and save money until she meets her soul mate?
In some cases, college just doesn’t make sense for a young person. By insisting they get a degree anyway, we’re putting them on a path toward misery.
When is a Gap Year a Bad Idea?
Gap years offer several benefits to students—but is a gap year ever a bad idea?
The biggest con when it comes to gap years is the non-plan con. A gap year should be well thought out by your student and you.
Work with them to determine why they want a gap year and what they want to accomplish during that time. Help them to set S.M.A.R.T goals to make a concrete plan for their gap year.
Discipline is key during a gap year. If your child isn’t disciplined and won’t make a plan for their gap year, they might not be disciplined enough for college either.
Conversely, the structure of college might be just what they need.
Summary
If your child is considering a gap year, the most important thing you can do is talk it out with them in a non-judgmental way. Help them to determine why a gap year is important to them and what they’ll do with the time.
Encourage them to get intentional with their goals and time management. With encouragement and support, they’ll find their way.
***Photo courtesy of https://flickr.com/photos/83633410@N07/7658051014/
