Alternate Routes Taking A Detour From The 4-Year Path

Careers and Colleges, Sept, 2001 by Tracey Randinelli

WHETHER IT'S AN ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND OR A MILITARY STINT IN ICELAND, SOME STUDENTS ARE OPTING TO TAKE THE SCENIC ROUTE TO COLLEGE.

As the summer of 1999 came to a close, most of Carla Brown's high school friends were packing stereos and bean bag chairs for their college dorm rooms. Brown was packing something else: a passport. The graduate of Milton Academy in Massachusetts, was bound for London to intern with a humanitarian group that raises money for conservation efforts in Madagascar. She had already spent the summer as an au pair in Italy. And she followed up her London stint with nearly six months in New Zealand, doing everything from assisting a commercial photographer to raking care of the feathered residents of a bird sanctuary. When she returned to the States the next summer, Brown was eager to start her studies at Oberlin College in Ohio. "I came back with a new attitude," she says. "I was really excited to be learning."

When it comes to getting a higher education, some students, like Brown, aren't ready to jump directly into college. The U.S. Department of Education reports that more than 30 percent of female high school graduates and about 40 percent of male grads haven't enrolled in college within a year of graduating from high school. And many of those who do enroll aren't quite ready, which may explain why one-third of college freshmen don't return to school for their sophomore year, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

As high school wraps up, you might want to consider some of the options--taking time off to travel, pursuing an interest or hobby, working, studying at a community college or technical school, or joining the military.

A Year OFF

Although she had been accepted to Oberlin, Carla Brown decided to defer her admission. "I felt pretty tired of schoolwork," she says. "I'd been going to school since I was five. I needed to have a time in my life that was Completely separate from academics, to do something I wanted to do."

Linda Lee, author of Success Without College (Doubleday) says that some students are simply tired of the whole grind of reading, writing, and arithmetic. "By the time they finish their senior year, it's nor just a mild case of senioritis," says Lee. "These kids have had it. They want to figure out who they are without someone grading them."

In many areas of the world, it's customary to spend the year after high school graduation traveling or participating in a community service or work program. The idea may be catching on in the U.S. as well. A growing number of opportunities are available for students who want to take some time off. Some ideas:

* ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAM: Gets you outdoors (usually on a volunteer basis), working to save some aspect of the planet.

* CULTURAL IMMERSION PROGRAM: You live in another country for a period of time, learning the language and customs of the area.

* APPRENTICESHIP: Gives you hands-on training from an expert in a trade--everything from marble cutting to electronics.

* INTERNSHIP: An entry-level, temporary job that allows you to learn more about the field.

* COMMUNITY SERVICE: Your hard work helps improve the lives of others and may teach you new skills.

One thing is clear: Taking a year off isn't for those looking to make big bucks. In fact, many interim programs can cost as much as a year at a private university. The trick to lowering the cost, I says Bob Gilpin, president of Where You Headed (www.whereyouheaded.com), an educational consulting firm, is to be flexible in your requirements.

"Say you want to apprentice with a glass blower or work with someone developing software," he says. "The likelihood of being able to do that inexpensively is very good" as long as you take what the program offers without making demands about the location, the timing, etc.

In other programs, you pay not with cash, but with time and hard work. "You might have to drive a bus back and forth from camp every week," Gilpin explains. "You wont earn money, but you'll get a place to stay and stuff to eat." At one point during her trip through New Zealand, Carla Brown took a position at a conservation organization "in return for a place to sleep."

WORK

During her senior year at H.D. Woodson High School in Washington, D.C., Carmen Harris decided to put off college in favor of a full-time job with the Red Cross, first as an administrative assistant, then with the marketing department. "I took a business track in high school and knew I really liked it," she explains. A year and a half later, she enrolled in Washington's Strayer University with a newfound passion-marketing, and she still held down a full-time job.

As Harris's experienced proves, the job opportunities for a student fresh out of high school are not limited to flipping burgers. Getting a good job is all about being thorough and diligent: putting together a detailed resume networking, and approaching an interview in a professional manner. "If a kid puts as much effort into getting a job as he or she would in applying to college," says Linda Lee, "he or she should get something better than minimum wage."