Diving into the Deep End: A gap year to taste the outside

<p>Parents and students alike! gather round! I need ya help! :P</p>

<p>I am a high school Senior at a Catholic prep school in New Jersey, only months away from graduation. With a few months to go, I have begun to entertain a certain thought.. Perhaps I should take a gap year!</p>

<p>Some quick research immediately brings up gapyear.com, a nicely-decorated little site showing how much fun it could be to be a resourceful member of the active future. Very idealistic photos of young adults traveling the world fighting evil while getting a good meal and meeting some exceptional individuals!
Lovely as that sounds, I know that I want something very different, something humbler and farther away from the ideal. I want to borrow some cash from my parents, rent out a tiny studio apartment in New York City, and find work for myself. I don't want to live off a guaranteed stipend, I want to survive knowing that if I don't get up in the morning, I can forget about dinner in the evening.</p>

<p>Now.. I have never truly lived on my own before (of course).. so I am just wondering, how does this idea sound? What should I know about, and how should I prepare for it? I am trying to keep this initial post concise, though I certainly will be here to share more details.</p>

<p>Why are you posting in the homeschooling forum?</p>

<p>oh whut wow… sorry… Imma try and remove this… -.-</p>

<p>EDIT: I have reported my post, it should be moved to the appropriate forum in time.</p>

<p>Still an interesting question; I’m curious to see the responses. Gapyear.com didn’t do it for us either, but for almost the opposite reason - my son wanted to stay home another year (or we wanted him to stay home, or both). Your plan sounds scary to a mom, but would certainly be a valuable experience. </p>

<p>I would definitely recommend choosing a college and requesting a deferral so you have that out of the way so you can focus on whatever it is you hope to do in NYC.</p>