OPINION: A different perspective on college decisions from a senior who isn’t going (yet)

Chloee Marchese
eSomethin staff

“Where are you going to college?” The classic, age-old question asked by every family member.

I moved back to the United States four months ago, to my third high school in four years, and I’m expected by everyone I come across to have an answer to that question right now.

In the wake of graduation, I hear a lot of teachers give the same advice: “Do what you love, so that going to work every day doesn’t feel like a job.” I’ve spent my entire high school career not knowing what country I was going to graduate in, let alone what colleges I’d be living close enough to to develop an interest in.

I never hated the idea of going to college until it was all school expected of me. I recently attended a Depart of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) school on a military base, and expectations were very high. Our entire senior class, which was around 30 people, met almost every week to prepare for college applications. It was not optional, because why would it be? Everyone was expected to go to college. Close to all people had already started applying, some already accepted. We wrote essay after essay to practice or submit directly to applications, and in each one I chose to write a personal narrative, telling every part of my story without outright screaming in the middle of class “I can’t handle this!”

It’s hard to articulate what I want to do in my gap year without sounding like a lazy bum. My go-to reply is simply “work”, which isn’t a lie. I’m seventeen, and haven’t had a single job outside of babysitting since being a military dependent limits my options greatly while living overseas. Building up my resume is something I am very interested in doing, since my current one is very much nonexistent.

Of course there are drawbacks to my decisions, mostly social related. I won’t have the same experience of going into college like most people are right after high school. I’ll be going in older, but hopefully that makes me wiser! Besides that, I think if I didn’t take a gap, there would be more drawbacks in that situation, and I want myself to be fully prepared and ready to take on college when the time is right. Being a military kid, I have many advantages when it comes to paying for college, and what is covered. This is where the approval from my parents comes in. Only a certain amount of months, around two years for me, is covered, and I wouldn’t want to waste that privilege. My family is in full support of my planned break, and know better than anyone how much I need it.

My main goal is to find myself and those passions I haven’t had the time to uncover. In my head, my break between high school and college is ideally a more mental and spiritual journey for me. I don’t plan on sitting around the house, waiting for the idea of my future career to just come to me. I want to try everything I can get my hands on. I want to work, volunteer, build connections, and learn to love who I have become.

Every time I gain interest in something, it’s quickly tossed aside when school rolls around and I’m thrown into the stress of it all. I seriously admire anyone who’s able to be loyal to their hobbies while doing well in school, as I have always lacked that balance in my life. It excites me to think about how I’ll have a blank slate, a clear calendar, to make every day something to look forward to by trying new things and doing things I love.

So when I say “I don’t want to go to college right away”, nobody takes the time to consider what I do want to do, only focusing on what I don’t want to do. Even if I wanted to sit around and be a lazy bum, I honestly believe that nobody is owed an explanation on why you don’t want to go to college. School is draining and college is expensive. Although I do think that collegiate schooling is in my future, it’s not worth it for everyone, and it shouldn’t be pressed.

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