Is this stupid?

[Spicy McHaggis]

Do you think it would be really dumb to take a year off of school? I'm thinking about joining the AmeriCorps for a year and then conitue school after that (I'm currently a sophomore.) But even if I didn't join a noble organization, would it be dumb not to continue my education now?

Thanks in advance for the opinions!!!

My $0.02.

I took longer than average to get my Bachelore's degree. Most of my friends were done with there's years before I was. This was because I was working while going to school, and taking at least one missions trip to a foreign country every year.

The way I see it, school is a very good form of education, but it's not the only form. When you're out there in the world you're going to have to deal with people, and people skills (IMO) are not best developed in a classroom.

So, I could have gotten my degree at least a year earlier than I did, but I never would have stood in the middle of Red Square, or watched a sunrise from a rooftop in Buenos Aries, or traded my imported silk tie for a necklace an orphan made in Sunday School in Mexico(I still don't know what he did with my tie), or ran away from giant tarantulas in Bolivia, or puked over the side of a boat in Barbados etc...

There's life experiences that I wouldn't have traded for the $$$ that I could have made with the degree.

Then again, you could always go to Americorp after school, but I personally don't think you'll ruin your life if you take the year off. Just be sure to go back. I hear about a lot of people who take a year off and never return.

 

[Echoes Peak]

My $0.02.

I took longer than average to get my Bachelore's degree. Most of my friends were done with there's years before I was. This was because I was working while going to school, and taking at least one missions trip to a foreign country every year.

The way I see it, school is a very good form of education, but it's not the only form. When you're out there in the world you're going to have to deal with people, and people skills (IMO) are not best developed in a classroom.

So, I could have gotten my degree at least a year earlier than I did, but I never would have stood in the middle of Red Square, or watched a sunrise from a rooftop in Buenos Aries, or traded my imported silk tie for a necklace an orphan made in Sunday School in Mexico(I still don't know what he did with my tie), or ran away from giant tarantulas in Bolivia, or puked over the side of a boat in Barbados etc...

There's life experiences that I wouldn't have traded for the $$$ that I could have made with the degree.

Then again, you could always go to Americorp after school, but I personally don't think you'll ruin your life if you take the year off. Just be sure to go back. I hear about a lot of people who take a year off and never return.

I will be getting my degrees about three years after my friends all did so I know exactly what you're talking about.

 

[evita]

So, I've decided to apply, and I'm going to wait and see if I get in. If I do get accepted then I will not go to school after I get back from my study abroad trip. However if I don't get accepted then I'll return to school. The tricky part is that I am also applying to be an RA at my school, and so if I get that job AND one of my AmeriCorps positions then I will have to make the most difficult decision thus far in my life! But I'm not gonna worry about that now. Actually, I feel so much more at ease about the situation than I did before, because I feel like I'm giving it more to God. One thing that might be bad is that I haven't told my parents and I wasn't planning on doing that unless I get accepted. Do you think this is bad? My opinion is I don't need to bring up the argument unless there is really a point to discuss it.

 

[en|gma]

So true! And, chess is a good metaphor, lol. Its a little like navigating a maze, too--I seem to have an incredible talent for choosing the dead ends when I take charge. Gods never let me hit into one when I give Him control, though

LOL....same here.

 

[evita]

Ok so I'm working on the application for AmeriCorps which is great, but next semester I'm studying abroad and so I was going to send the application in from there and not talk about it with my parents until then either. But then I talked to one of my good friends on Wednesday, and he thought that I should bring it up over Christmas before I leave...What do you think?