<p>hey
im sure this question has been asked several times and therefore i added lots of stars and exclamations and things in hopes of getting people here. hooray!now that you're here, i shall begin my question.
i previously hadnt really considered taking next year off, but the offer on the reply card struck a chord and im thinking next year might be a good time to stop being so burnt out, and to do something that would (beware of cheesy cliche) inspire me to really take of advantage of everything H has to offer.
problem is, i need an exact plan of what to do next year in order for my parent to even consider it. i dont want something very academic and i dont want to find myself (no offense) working at the gap. so for those of you who decided to do this, what did you do? i might be interested in doing something art-related or foreign-language related. nothing too math or sciencey since i think i have physics and bc pouring out of my ears right now. and with that mental imagery, i leave you.
(sorry for the long windedness of the question)</p>
<p>AAARRRRGH! Physics! Inertia is bludgeoning me over the head while momentum holds me down!</p>
<p>Sorry, I haven't taken a year off and didn't plan on it, but I wanted to sympathize regarding the hell that is rotational kinematics.</p>
<p>What do people usually do in their year off? You say art/foreign language related, well, the first thing that pops into my head is working at a museum in a city that draws a lot of tourists. Where do you live? If it's near a metropolis, you've got thousands of opportunities. If you're in Nowheresville, Oblivion you might have a problem. Living expenses, you know.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>I haven't been accepted to H (hopefully this is just a "yet") but no matter where I get accepted I'm taking a year off. I'm doing two special projects and some community service.</p>
<p>psh, rotational kinematics is easier than linear kinematics. Suck it up and apply sum of torques equals I * alpha</p>
<p>It's the I part that frustrates me. And the alpha part. They never just give it to you. They give like tangent velocity and some sort of radius-like-number and expect you to figure it out yourself. The stinking I never stays the same either--darn constant keeps changing on me. I'll be happy to never see omega again.</p>
<p>OH MAN I HATE ROTATION SO MUCH</p>
<p>anyone else have to do problems with yo-yos and figure out the direction it moves and whether it turns clockwise or counterclockwise when you pull on it? Yeah, its impossible.</p>
<p>Hey, last June I was accepted for the Harvard class of 2010, and I decided to take the offer and take the year off. As a disclaimer, I have to say that, as of June 15th, I had no intention of taking the year off, and, if I wanted to go Harvard, I really didn't choice in the matter. What I can say now is that getting this free year was the luckiest thing that has ever happened to me, and that, knowing what I do now, I would have taken the year off even had I been accepted for the class of 2009. I just got back (before the holidays) from spending over four months working for an NGO in Orissa (mid-eastern coast of India), and in a week I will be going to Gambia for four months to work in a lab at the Medical Research Center there. The job in India I got through the world bank, and the one in Gambia I got through Oxford (which runs the center). I can't begin to summarize how much I've learned so far this year, or how much, in my mind, it has all been worth it. On the other side of the argument, it is strange now seeing all my high school friends and knowing that they're already a year ahead of you in college, and (going with the course of thread) a little disappointing knowing that they probably now know more physics and calc. than I do. Still, when you get down to it, it really is only one year, and in my case, considering that I'll probably be spending the next ten years of my life in school, and then will have to get a good job, this year is an opportunity to do something that I will never again have the opportunity of doing, and really learn about life outside America. I hope that this was helpful. As a general rule, I don't post on these threads, but if you have any questions, please feel free to send me a private message.</p>
<p>I've been spending the past few months traveling/volunteering around the world; in South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. In a week I'll be in South America again, volunteering at an orphanage and studying Spanish.</p>
<p>AMAZING experiences. I suggest everyone does it.</p>