Hi all,
I am a high school sophomore who for a while was thinking about spending my summer at a college taking classes or doing research. While these seem like great opportunities, there is another one that is not academic-based, but I am still very interested in doing it. I have an opportunity to spend mine in Israel where I can explore, learn about what it is like to live there, and many other amazing things. I am torn between which one will benefit me more in the long run. I still really want to spend a summer at a college, but can it wait a year?
While spending a summer doing research or taking college classes can improve my resume, I feel like traveling can also be something I write about in an essay.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
I am strongly inclined to uncommon opportunities such as visiting Israel.
I was in this exact position last year, and I think you just have to go with you gut and go where you think you would be happiest. Either opportunity is only what you make of it; both could be great inspiration for a college essay but listed alone on a resume would probably not do much.
Personally, I didn’t think the trip to Israel that I had the chance to go on was right for me in terms of scheduling and cost, so I went with research, but only because I thought that it would be a better experience for the kind of person I am.
Either decision would be great and I don’t think you could go wrong with either experience. It does seem like Israel is a more unique opportunity so if you are leaning towards that and the only thing holding you back is a college application, just go and don’t worry. Good luck!