#43 - Gap Years Should Be Mandatory 07/05/18

DISCLAIMER: I never went to any form of post-secondary school. So if I come across as an uneducated bozo in this blog, it's 100% because I am an uneducated bozo.

I just spent a great 24 hours on the road with my buddy, Ethan, and one of our conversations inspired me to write a blog about how I think a "gap year" between High School and College/University should be mandatory.

I know a lot of people that rushed into their post-secondary educations the Fall after graduating High School, and an awful lot of them are stuck paying back student loans that they racked up to earn degrees that they either no longer want, or can't use. I've never understood what the rush is. When I was in grade 12, they talked to us about our plans after graduating, and I, among many others, didn't really know what I wanted to do.

Fortunately, my parents were cool with that. They insisted I continued to work (I already had a job), but didn't have a problem with me taking some time to try and figure life out. I wish more parents were like that. Frankly, I think parents should not only support their kids taking a little time to think about what they want to do with their lives, they should encourage it.

I'm 34 right now. When I was 17, I didn't know ANYTHING. A strong argument can be made that I still don't, but that's not my point. I thought I wanted to be a lawyer at one point, and now I know I would have hated it. Luckily, I didn't spend years of my life and thousands of dollars to figure that out. 17 year olds don't know anything. They think they do, but they don't. I think the best thing you can do for a young person is let them get a year or two of real life experience before they're forced to commit to a direction.

When you're in school, the world is a very different place than it is after you're out of it. We should be encouraging people to hang out in the shallow end of the adult pool before they go dive into the deep end of it. Let a kid figure out what they're really passionate about, without being told something it what they should be passionate about. I think there would be a lot less depression and a lot more happiness in the world today if more people were happy with their jobs, instead of doing something they feel obligated to do because their 17 year old self thought it was the way to go.

I just spent a great 24 hours on the road with my buddy, Ethan, and one of our conversations inspired me to write this blog.

Like I said at the beginning of this post, I'm an uneducated bozo. But I'm happy.

Thanks for reading.

Adam