Sara McGinnis
posted in CelebritiesMalia Obama is all set to graduate high school with the class of 2016, and she's decided to go to Harvard -- in 2017.
While many were curious to see where the firstborn daughter of Barack and Michelle Obama would choose to go to college, I'm intrigued by this talk of taking a "gap year." Specifically, I'd like to know where this tradition was when I was 18? All of a sudden I'm all kinds of jealous.
In light of Malia's decision The NY Times reports:
In deferring her start date until 2017, Malia, 17, is availing herself of the opportunity to take a “gap year,” a popular option for high school seniors who are seeking experiences outside the classroom — some in far-flung parts of the world — before they begin pursuing a degree. Harvard actively encourages admitted students to do so. It may also yield a less scrutinized freshman-year experience for Malia, whose parents have worked vigilantly to keep her out of the public eye during her years in the White House and hope to shield her from such attention as a college student.
While it's not yet clear what Malia Obama will be doing during her gap year, it makes sense to me for her to take a little time off while her family is going through such a transition period. But even if they weren't, I'd love to see this concept pick up in popularity stateside.
My husband and I both struggled to pick our majors in college, in part I believe because we had virtually no experience working in the real world. I'm fairly happy with having gone the Communications route, but he ended up studying Animal Science. After graduation he worked in that area briefly and hated it -- yet all these years later we're still working on paying off his loans.
I won't go so far as to say college was a waste for us, but I firmly believe we could have gone about it in a better way. Quite possibly, an extra year to mature and more world experience could have made the difference.
As a parent I'm a little more nervous about gap years, because I do feel a tinge of the fear my kids would never return to school. Or more than that, they'd flounder in their year off and get stuck. Still, I plan to encourage my boys to take some time after high school...I'll just have to try and be right there making sure they take full advantage of the time.
Photo: Greg E. Mathieson Sr./REX/Shutterstock
A look back at just how much the Obama girls have grown over the years:
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