The Pros and Cons

Friends, family and randos ask me all the time whether I'm glad I decided to take a gap year.

Typically I answer in a sentence ending with ! and there's usually an all caps word involved.

It's true, I like it. Understatement of the year. I love it. (note the lack of caps and !. I thought it would lend me more credibility).

A year in other countries, way more independence, different languages, exciting adventures at every turn and new food. What are the pros and cons?

Cons:
-I'll be 24 when I hopefully get my bachelors degree. I'll be a year, or even two older than some of my classmates.
-Coming back won't exactly be easy, as I'll be habituated to a life full of much more independence, adult responsibilities and constant adventures. Culture shock.
-A year without much homework, learning for the sake of learning and choosing the things I want to master. (This weeks theme is 10 verbs I've decided to master, Maya Angelou's "Letters to My Daughters" and figure out what the word "vendette" means). All this then to four years of nose to the grindstone. It won't be easy.
-There was a lady on an airplane once who told me (not me personally, but for anyone who was thinking of taking a year off) that if I took a gap year I would drop out of college and become a druggie layabout. This has yet to happen.
-I don't get to see my american family, american friends and my city for ten months. I've yet to feel more than a twinge of homesickness, but it is hard some days without a familiar support network.

Pros-
-I'll return speaking multiple languages, having seen many different cultures, lifestyles, places and people.
-I am in one of the only periods of my life (most likely) where I will be free of significant responsibilities. No partner, child, mortgage or career. Yet. Il faut profiter lorsque on peut.
-Frankly, 14 years of schooling, even as fun, loving and wonderful as it was, put me through the ringer. One needs a break, and a gap year, when structured enough (but not too much! it's hard to run when everyone is holding your hand) is perfect.
-Plane Lady, people who take gap years are more likely to graduate college in four years. They tend to enter university with a more concrete/directed idea of what they want to do with their lives/time/energy, and work harder when they get there.
-The wonderful australians I chatted with in Barcelona told me that for them, traveling is a "rite of passage." This is part of the reason while you will probably find australians everywhere. The attitude of adventure, the willingness to visit other places and take chances, is beautiful.

Yesterday I bought a crimson sweater, watched a truly horrifying (But MANIFIQUE) film about the Parisian Child Protection Unit and walked over three hours.

Time to ponder many things. Nighty night.