Well, I took one year off after high school, went to one university for one year, took a couple more years off, & am now almost finished with my BA at different university. During high school, I basically got burned out. I took honors courses, graduated in the top 3% of my class of around 550, looked like I was really going somewhere... But I wasn't doing it because I cared, I was doing it because, as long as I kept my grades up, I had no curfew & had very lax rules at home. So, I decided to take a break for a year. No big deal, right? So, the next year I went to a commuter college nearby -- it wasn't just a little community college, but most students lived off campus spread out all around St. Louis. Parking was a bitch. There wasn't much to get involved with on campus, cuz, again, everyone went home to all their old friends & old hangouts as soon as class was over. I wasn't particularly impressed with the classes I had. So, I finished the year then dropped out. When I finally went back, I had a much better idea of what I wanted to do & why I wanted to be here. I'm not just doing this because I think I'm supposed to, I'm doing this because the real world without a degree sucks. Yeah, a degree is not necessary for some fields, but for anything I would enjoy it is necessary. I took the time to get my partying out of my system while I was out of school, so I don't have that low freshman year gpa to overcome. I have some life experience to back the info that I'm taking in, as opposed to these 18-19 year olds who know very little of the real world. I don't know what else to say, except that I am very glad I did take that time off. One thing to be careful of, if you are considering taking time off, is that it is harder to go back than to just stay in for most people. I blame it on inertia -- if you just stay in the mode of being in school, the only change is that you are in a different setting. On the other hand, so many people plan to take just a year or two off, but then wind up buying a new car, so they have to keep that full time job until it's paid off, or getting pregnant, so they have to wait till the baby is old enuf, or whatever. Taking time off for me has been a positive experience & has enabled me to be a far better student now, but it has its risks as well.
