<p>Hi. I'm considering taking a year off from college, but I need some advice on how exactly I should go about doing it.</p>
<p>I'm currently a freshman at the University of Georgia, and I'm not doing very well in my classes at the moment (except one), and it's simply because I cannot find any motivation whatsoever to study and do homework. It's not a problem with the college life- I love UGA and the experience it has to offer... but I think what's bothering me so much is just being burnt out on schoolwork. Some might see this as laziness, but that's not the problem either. As a matter of fact, one thing I've learned about myself since I started college was that I am more cut-out for working, rather than going to class, studying, writing papers, etc. I've been working a part-time job, and to be honest, I really enjoy it. I have absolutely no problem motivating myself to work when I know that I'm being paid for it, and I have no problem working for long periods of time, either. When it comes to any type of work, I can motivate myself if I know that the work I'm doing has a direct purpose. That being said, I absolutely hate writing English papers, considering the fact that I'm a finance major.</p>
<p>However, I realize that I'm not the only one who doesn't like writing papers. I've been going to school since I was 5 like everyone else, so I know that I'm capable of doing the schoolwork... it's just that after 12 years of school, my meter is running low. So, I want to take a year off to take a breather and get my head straight. In the meantime, I want to work a full-time job and focus on two other things I've always wanted to focus on, but haven't been able to because of school: languages and music. I've always been gifted in these two areas- quite considerably, to be honest. I mentioned earlier that I'm not doing well in my classes except one, which is Latin. I'm making a high A in that class without even really trying. I don't know why, but it just comes natural to me. I also tried to learn Spanish on my own, and I was doing very well, but I eventually gave up because I just didn't have the time. Also, even though I'm not putting all of my eggs into this basket, I feel that I have a legitimate chance at becoming a record producer. I've only been producing for about 10 months, and my music is better than most people that I've met who have been producing for a couple of years. So, while I'm taking a year off, I want to learn a language (or two) and further my music production skills. (Also, I don't want to pursue a college degree in these, because like 95% of the jobs in language and music are teaching jobs, and I have high social anxiety... the idea of me being a teacher is like something from a nightmare.)</p>
<p>So the problem is, I don't know very much at all about sorting out this gap year. Will I be able to stay enrolled at UGA while I take a year off? Will I have to start paying off my federal loans since I won't be a full-time student? Is there anything else I should be aware of? Also, I haven't told my parents any of this yet, and they may not think it's such a great idea at first. Other than all the reasons I just outlined, what are some other advantages of taking a year off? All-in-all, is this a good idea?</p>