Taking time off from college -- Avoiding the burn-out May 11 '05    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet The Bottom Line Taking time off could be the best thing for you, but make sure you think it through before you head down that road. College is not an easy endeavor, and nobody will try to convince you that it is. Keeping that in mind, to some people it is not a fun experience, nor is something that will always keep your attention. To a lot of people it is a necessary step to getting where we want to end up in life, and there is no avoiding the process of having to attend college. So, sometimes a break is needed if we are going to make it to the end of the road that is college, and pocket a degree that will help us in our near future. There are however both benefits and drawbacks for either option, and I will try to provide both sides of the coin in this situation. There are of course three main options that people tend to look at when considering taking a break. There is the break between high school and college, a break in the undergraduate studies, and then the potential break between undergraduate and graduate studies. All people have these options, and there are those that want to get it done as soon as possible without breaks. In fact, some people try to double up the credit loads in order to get out of school faster, developing tunnel vision with a specific goal set for themselves on that day of graduation. For most people though, we don't know what is in store for us when we are done with schooling. We may have an idea of a direction, or a job that we want to try for, but nothing is lined up and nothing is definite. That is where the doubt about finishing, or where other options start looking more interesting, start to creep in. There are roadblocks for both options, and lets take a look at both of them. First off, some people realize that they are tired of school when going through high-school, but also know that they want to go to college eventually. There is nothing wrong with deciding to take a year off, or not being ready to head into the college experience. But there are a few things to keep in mind when you decide that you want to take a year off for yourself, to travel, or to just get a job. Giving yourself a break can also detract from your likeability on a University level. Meaning that when you are applying for that college admission, they might not like that you decided to take time off. If admissions are tight, and you are trying to get into a popular and demanding school, it can cause problems if you have been away from academia for too long. Your high school grades become less valuable as time passes on, and you really have to have a lot going for you if a University wants you to still attend. The other option, is to get into school, take a lighter class-load, and take the time to figure out just what your plans are going to be. You do lose time though, if you are prolonging your college life like this, and the only detractor there is the length of time it will take you to graduate. This can turn into more expenses if you are in college longer, but sometimes the normal course load for one person is just too much learning for the next person. People often take easy semesters where it gives them a break from a rigorous class load, and lets them catch up in their mind with what they are doing. This is like taking a break, but still taking classes at the same time allows you to not fall behind. By doing this, you also have the option of taking a bigger than normal course load later on to catch up, or just doing a 4-year degree in 5-years. Taking time off in the middle of college is one of the harder things to do. Once you start into college, your brain gets accustomed to the methods of learning, and the scheduling of having to run from class to class at times. When you have completed two years of that, it is hard to then take time off, and then break back into the college mode. Along with that, you are developing relationships with the people around you, and by taking time off, you will miss out on that amount of time with those specific people. Taking the time off though, could be a necessity if you feel yourself being burnt out by the college crunch. There is no real good reason to stick with something that is making you miserable, because the end result won't be quite as good as you thought it would be. Instead that time off could be a requirement of you succeeding at this level. Finally we have the opportunity of taking time off after our undergraduate schooling, before we go into graduate school. A lot of the time, people don't even know they want to go to graduate school right away, and it comes on pretty quick. With that in mind, there are a couple of options for you. If you decide you are done with school for a while, it can be beneficial to go into a job or into an internship for something you plan on doing for a living. That step into the real world can be just as big, but sometimes we feel that we are ready for that next challenge. The real world is completely different from college though, and graduate school can be tough to get used to again, if you do take that time off, because it is going to be much tougher than your regular college. Hopefully this essay provided you with some information that is helpful in your decision about taking time off from college. It is important to know that not everyone learns at the same rate, and school isn't for everyone. Sometimes we do things simply because they are required or expected of us. College is a hard experience, and not one to look upon lightly, and having that pearl of knowledge, we can then decide what is best for ourselves. Deferring admittance to school is allowed at times, but it is always a good idea to talk with your admissions counselor before you decide to take time off. Getting all of the information ahead of time will help you to make that important decision in the end. The most important thing to remember though, is that it is o.k. to take time off, and stick to what works best for you.

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