Neither of my parents graduated from college, yet they both ended up with good jobs in their desired fields. Sounds crazy, right? Back then, not graduating from college wasn’t the apocalyptic nightmare it’s made out to be today. These days, not only are we taught to believe that we will never get a job without a diploma, but that we must get said diploma in the span of four years time.

Higher education is important and certainly allows for more comfort and flexibility when searching for a job. According to College View, "the more opportunities you explore during college, the better able you’ll be to choose an occupation that’s a perfect fit."

That being said, it seems to have become this unspoken yet indisputable rule that the prerequisite for the "American Dream" is to attend four consecutive years of college without pause. The idea of taking a semester off is shocking to people. Before even hearing the reason why, they assume that something must be wrong. What the masses neglect to understand is that each and every individual has their own distinct path, one that is waiting to be paved only by them.

The eight consecutive semesters of college work well for plenty of people, but others may not feel the same. There are people who lose their drive along the way and are left feeling lost and confused. People who change immensely in that first defining year of college and realize that they haven’t the slightest clue what they want to study. People who feel that there is a better opportunity knocking on their door that they can’t pass up. There are also people who simply feel overwhelmed by their major and need some time and space to figure out if it’s really what they want to pursue.

There are so many reasons people take a semester, or even a year, off of school. Whatever your reason; it is okay! Taking some time to figure out what you want to do with your life is not a mistake. Even if you know exactly what you want to study but you also want to take an amazing opportunity that has come into your life, our generation has the remarkable option of taking online classes. Taking time away to pursue an opportunity doesn’t even have to mean taking a semester off! Many people say that the semester they decided to spend traveling the world was the most influential time of their lives. I personally know people who have taken time away from school to study religion in a yeshiva or seminary and not one of them regrets it. Instead, they regard it as being the time in their lives when they learned the most about themselves and who they wanted to be.

I also know people who have traveled or pursued things not relating to school, all while taking online classes in order to stay on track with graduating in the time frame they had planned on. Young people are given ample opportunities to explore their options, between student discounts and all of the many travel and volunteer organizations geared specifically toward students. We’re healthy, energetic, and seeking out something to lead us in the direction of our passion, whatever that may be.

If you’ve been dying to temporarily escape your world of textbooks and research papers to volunteer on a wildlife reserve in Africa or feel as though you need to take some time off to find your true self in a seminary, do it! Don’t let the societal fear of not completing college in those eight consecutive semesters stop you from following what you’re passionate about. I can’t imagine how taking time away to discover how you want to spend the rest of your life could possibly be more of a mistake than feeling stuck in a career you are unsatisfied with because you didn’t slow down and allow yourself the time to pursue one you truly cared about. Slow down, listen to your heart, and you can’t go wrong.

Sincerely,