I was listening to the news and a recent report about high school students skipping a year before starting college. It’s referred to as taking a “gap year”.
According to experts, this is highly recommended for many students so they can go into the world and learn more about leadership and empathy.
I’ve been thinking all day about why experts think kids who take a year off can learn more about leadership and empathy. If I took a year off back then, I would have worked my tail off, but not really engaged in things to teach me about the world of purpose, drive, concern, compassion and leadership, etc.
In fact, I did take off a term to work and finish paying for my tuition. All it taught me was that I needed to finish school so I could have more career choices in my life and not work for some moron at a grocery store whose uncle was his boss and who lacked people skills.
But leadership?
Well, then I researched it. Ohhhhhh. I see now. The Ivy League schools are offering a gap year program through organizations like Global Citizen Year and sending them off to 3rd world countries. Of course that makes sense. And it’s an amazing idea.
Apparently there is an uptick in burnt out freshmen and college drop outs, and parents are questioning their return on investment after investing so much money.
It’s nice to see that civil service programs are on the rise. I wonder if it will be democratized or only through select Ivy League colleges…
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