Not sure what to do after high school

I’m a junior in HS, and I’m not sure if I even want to go to college anymore. I’m not failing any classes and I’ve had above a 3.5 GPA throughout high school. I struggle with understanding why I’m taking some of the classes I am, specifically Pre Calc and Physics. I’ve never been a “math person”, so I plan on going into a career in which I won’t have to do large amounts of complex math. I don’t exactly understand why I’m taking these classes if I’m most likely never going to use the information. I enjoy digital art and video production, and I’ve tried to tailor my schedule as closely as possible to those interests. I think I should take a gap year between high school and college and pursue my main interest, making music videos. The problem is that I feel pressured by the school to go straight to college. Almost all the students in the graduating class go straight to college, and I’m not sure my parents would be on board with taking a gap year to figure out what I want to do. I would appreciate any advice on what I should do.

My son took two and a half gap years. It was the best thing he could have done. He did relief work in Jordan one year and Lebanon the next. He discovered that his passion is helping others. Four years later, he’s about to get his degree from the American University of Beirut while working several days a week at a Syrian refugee camp outside the city. He is fluent in Arabic and made the Dean’s List every semester but one. This is a kid who almost didn’t make it out of high school!
You need to come up with a specific plan, more than just “making music videos.” Make a list of ideas and plans before you approach your parents

I don’t know where you live geographically or if CA is an option for you but check out the film majors at Chapman University in Southern CA. You just might feel inspired.

I agree with Mainelonghorn. One of my children also gapped for 3 years and is thriving. Gapping for one or more years may be your best approach. Every person is different but gapping before college has several advantages. 1) you can explore what the world offers before you have student loan debt to service and are forced perhaps to take a job that you may not like. 2) the longer you wait for college, within reason, the more mature your brain will be. It takes until about age 25 for your brain to mature. IMHO the reason most kids are pressed into college immediately is because high school counselors and parents feel that’s the best way to keep student momentum going. Your parents would be okay with you doing this, probably, if you have a plan.

Some people apply for college and then gap. Their gap time is limited by the amount of time their chosen college allows. Other people take gap time and then apply to college later. If you gap I urge you to have some sort of clear path before you, before Sept of the year you graduate. That’s when your friends will be off to college and having something in place will help you psychologically at that time.

To help you create a plan, you may want to look at 1) volunteer opportunities near your home; 2) work opportunities near home; 3) Americorps programs (which are government-run programs where you join a team and you’re exposed to several different types of work. There are lots of youtube videos about this program. They provide a uniform, a place to life, stipend, and money towards college tuition at the end); 4) Student Conservation Association – several internships dealing with the environment with a wide variety, everything from counting bats in New Mexico to doing computer stuff in Alaska, to archival work in Massachusetts. The internships update regularly. Some offer housing and stipends. Others not so much; 5) workaway is a website that lists opportunities offering housing around the world; 6) WWOOfing is work on organic farms–some may actually need film editing work for marketing or something. Some do have surprising needs! 7) coolworks are jobs that pay and often offer housing. 8) volunteer.gov – volunteer work in federal lands sometimes with housing.

The objective might be to try out some of the things that interest you and to discover other things that you didn’t realize exist in the world.

Digital art and media has become a huge business and thus a popular major at many universities. Many schools with strong arts programs have moved into this space.

Why do you have to take these math (and other) classes in HS? Hard to appreciate when you’re young but it’s important to get a broad, well rounded education as a solid foundation for the rest of your life. Most colleges, btw, will also require you to take divisional or core classes (for the same reason - teaching the whole person), but once you knock those out you get to specialize and concentrate in your areas of interest. You may find a conservatory style school (pretty common in the arts) where you get to specialize right away more to your liking. Start researching schools like SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design) , RISD (Rhode Island School of Design), and Full Sail (Orlando - know a few kids who work in animation at Dreamworks after graduation). Lots of film school (Chapman is a great one) will have these options as well. State schools with good arts programs will also have options.

Do some research and get motivated. If for no other reason, you need to do well in HS to gain admission to these programs. But also, learn as much as you can about a lot of things. You’ll be surprised where they come in to play later in life.

@johnborg:
Gap years can be immensely valuable. A few thoughts on them include:

  1. It’s important to be self sufficient during that year. If you’re still getting assistance from home (financial, housing, food), you may come out of that year no better than when you went in. Don’t deprive yourself of the opportunity to grow and personally benefit.

  2. Doors (opportunities) have a way of closing the longer the gap you take. When you’re ready to return to school, it will be much harder if you have car payments, house payments, a significant other who doesn’t want you to leave, or little mouths you need to feed. Many never return to school for these reasons.

In your opening post, you stated:
*I struggle with understanding why I’m taking some of the classes I am, specifically Pre Calc and Physics. I’ve never been a “math person”, so I plan on going into a career in which I won’t have to do large amounts of complex math. I don’t exactly understand why I’m taking these classes if I’m most likely never going to use the information. *
These classes teach you how to do critical problem solving. Those skills are used in all occupations. Whatever field you enter, employers will hire you to solve hard problems. The better you are at that, the more they’ll want you.

All the best.

@jpm50 Makes some great points. Re the math classes, spot on about developing critical problem solving skills. You will use that in many forms just about every day. Just breaking down projects (making videos) to a series of steps and coordinating with others requires critical thinking about “How will we get this done?” You may not use math in the solve but the process of thinking through and solving problems will be present in many things.

Do you drive a car? Then you are applying physics.
You need to understand the difference between velocity (speed) and acceleration.
How much space to leave for your car to stop (momentum).
Why do brakes work? (friction)
Why does an engineer take history?
Because we want our citizens to have a basic understanding of science…let’s say you become President but have no idea how science works. That would be bad!
We want our citizens to understand our history.
We want students to have a basic background in everything…maybe you will be excited about it and maybe you will want to do more and maybe you will say “that’s enough for me.”

But! if you want to take a gap year…still apply to college. It is easiest to do when you are at HS. Then once you are accepted, request a gap year.

There is a significant overlap between music and math. Making music videos can at some level get technical. I think that you should take math and physics classes very seriously in that you might need the information at some point in the future. You have a lot of time and a lot of learning ahead of you.

I agree with others that taking a gap year might be a very good plan for you. In my experience students do a lot better in university if they know why they are there, and students that return to university after a gap are usually very strong students.

I might add, one of the strongest mathematicians that I ever knew was an acoustics engineer. As a former math major, I was amazed at his mathematical ability and by how much math was needed in his job.

^ Tom Scholz, lead guitarist of the band Boston was an MIT engineer. Literally invented “The Rockman” portable amp system. Brian May, Queen guitarist, was also an electrical engineer who invented his sound and developed amps. Pretty interesting.

@rickle1 Brian May earned a Bachelors of Science in Physics, then a PhD in Astrophysics

^ Sorry about that, you are correct. I’m positive about Tom Scholz as my brother bought an amp from him way back when. Thought I heard May was an EE. Should have checked on that. Physics. Not so bad.

A lot of STEM people are musical. I had to decide whether to major in engineering or piano performance. I went for engineering, but I’ve decided to start studying piano again seriously.

Also look at Emerson-- again, maybe you’ll be inspired. Your parents might approve of a gap yea more if you have a plan both for the gap and what follows. You should consider your source of income during the gap as well. “Making music videos” could sound a lot like being unemployed and living with your parents. You don’t have to be a math person or take physics to excel in college. Just find the right program.

I would suggest that you take a break after high school, it is the best time for you to think about what you want in life.

Is there a way to make videos in college? Either on the side or as part of a class?