You go to college after high school - that's almost a religious truth for most students coming out of a white, suburban town in the Northeast. Your guidance counselors plan full days to explain The Common App and financing. Every day, you're surrounded by teachers asking how your applications are coming along and where you've been accepted. Most of my classrooms even had walls that every student would put their future plans on.
While I did apply to 10 colleges in my senior year and I did receive some good offers, I didn't send a deposit anywhere - I left them all without a response. After working hard on my applications I let them linger in the online stratosphere. I decided since I had taken and scored high on 8 AP exams, I could take a semester off to travel without any repercussions.
Most people think you should only take time off when you don't know what you want in life - but, I did. For most of high school, I knew I wanted to go into politics and law. I wanted to become a Human Right's Lawyer and be active on the political scene, and that's still what I want to do. Taking time off is not only for making concrete future plans, but also for maturing and finding out, plainly, who you are.
That summer I tried to plan where I could go. I looked into India, since I had family there, and into South America, since I had taken Spanish throughout my schooling. Finally, I decided that Europe would work best. I had people I could stay with, I could continue my studies in German and I had an in with the United Nations through the person I would stay with. I decided to start in London, continue to Vienna, and then spend a small amount of time in various cities in Germany and Poland.
While my friends all got ready for college, I packed two suitcases full for two months of traveling around Europe. I enrolled myself in a German class for the month I was in Vienna and looked into an internship in UNESCO. My time was starting to feel planned and ready and while being alone in Europe did feel daunting, I was more than excited.
Finally, I left in early August. My first stop was London, where I was able to see some of my family and of course, explore the city. Here, I spent a lot of time alone. I learned to brave London rush hour on the Tube, I learned to spend a whole day in the company of just my mind - as easy as that sounds, it's not something that we're used to, and it's something everyone should try. You should always have control of your own time. For me, that meant going to the Tate Modern, an art museum, eating good food, visiting coffee shops and just walking in the directions that seemed the most interesting.
After London, I went to Vienna. Here, I spent the bulk of my journey. I got to know the streets like the back of my hand, found the best coffee shops and met amazing people. I spent my weekday mornings in German class but then had the rest of the day to either work at the UNESCO internship or do as I pleased. In Vienna, I learned that to get anything in life, you have to truly open yourself up to the opportunity. I met people because I put effort into finding them. I found an internship because I put effort into looking. I learned to put myself out there without the previously inevitable feeling of awkwardness to accompany me.
Taking time off and traveling really opens up your mind. Seeing how other societies work and how the world is bigger than just your town is important. Furthermore, I learned more about myself from those two months than I had from my schooling. Learning how to live alone in another country is definitely a positive experience - it allows you to break out of the mask you had to fit in with your social group. I was able to make lasting friendships be entirely myself while I was away - and now I wouldn't change who I am for anyone.
I applied for the Spring Semester to Stonehill College, and I got in with a pretty good scholarship. The semester off allowed me to develop into the person I'm meant to be, and I don't feel I'm lagging behind anyone around me. If anything, I feel that the time off has helped me.
If you are considering taking time off, I would say do it - even if you know exactly what you want in life. At the very least, it's going to make you so much surer of yourself.
