By Sarah Burnett, Current C0-Editor-in-Chief
Everybody follows a different path after they graduate high school and immerse themselves into the real world. May 1st is National Decision Day for high school seniors, and many students will decide to enroll in a 4-year college. However, the pandemic has made life financially and emotionally harder for many families, which means there are some students who are deciding to take a gap year.
To start, a gap year is an academic period that usually lasts one year in which students take a break in between high school and college. For the class of 2020 and 2021, there has been a much higher rate of students who are choosing not to attend college directly after graduating. Many students from the class of 2020 deferred their enrollments because they hoped the pandemic situation would have gotten better, they wanted to stay with their families for an extra year, or they didn’t want to pay the high tuition rates for online classes. This trend has continued into the class of 2021, with more students deciding to defer their enrollments or take a gap year.
There are a variety of reasons why people are choosing to take a gap year. The first reason is academic burnout. For the class of 2021, many students are feeling overwhelmed and stressed out by having to do online school. This isn’t just a typical case of senioritis; recent studies have shown that remote/virtual school work is causing high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. Senior Mia Pezza from Oakland Mills High School has definitely felt the negative effects of doing strictly virtual classes for the year, and has decided to take a gap year before attending college. “I just felt really overworked for the last few years in high school, especially with this year being online. I figured that taking a year off to focus on myself and my mental health would make sure that I don’t go into college already being burnt out and wanting to drop out,” she stated.
The next reason one might take a gap year is wanting to explore one’s own interests and passions. “I really just need some time to figure out what I want to major in, and explore some of my passions that might potentially end up being what I go to college for,” said Kaitlyn Burnett, a senior who is also deciding to take a gap year. “The pandemic has caused a lot of uncertainty for me, and I want to go into college knowing what I want to major in to help ease my nerves,” she said. Kaitlyn is deciding to re-apply to college in the fall of 2021, to help give her some more time to explore her interests. During the spring of 2022, after she applies to colleges and has a lot of down time, she is going to enroll in HCC to see what she is interested in; “Before joining my future college’s class of 2026, I am going to take a class or two at Howard Community college to see what I might want to do in the future.”
Another reason one might want to take a gap year is to spend more time with their family during these difficult circumstances. Senior Charlotte Yoder is deciding to take a gap year to protect her grandmother (who lives with her) from covid, and to spend more time with her family. “With all of the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, I thought that taking a gap year is the best decision for me since I’d prefer not to have my freshman year of college online. Going in person might not be the safest option for me or my family. It will hopefully be enough time for the severity of the pandemic to decrease,” she said.
Overall, there are many different paths that people choose to take after they graduate high school. Whether it’s immediately going to college, taking a gap year, or not going to college at all, life has different plans for everyone and that is completely okay. At the end of the day, everyone has to decide what is best for themselves and their families.